Hypocrisy in action: elitist air travel

Want to see global warming hypocrisy in action? Peter W. Tilton, a young editor at The Harvard Crimson, recently had some great insights:

The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion :: Gore and “Green” Goonies:

The leading spokesperson of today’s enviro-chic celebrities is Al Gore, whose face is everywhere from his award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth to Norway where he recently received the Nobel Peace Prize. Many Americans would naturally assume Gore follows the green lifestyle he widely promotes, and they would be wrong. Gore and his wife Tipper, whose children all live elsewhere, reside in a behemoth 20-room mansion outside of Nashville that used nearly 23,000 kilowatt-hours last August, more than twice the annual—yes, annual—energy usage of a typical American home. Gore’s preferred mode of transportation between stops on his international publicity tour is his private jet, which spews out CO2 emissions at the rate of a small army of SUVs.

Hypocritical enviro-advocates abound these days, constantly reminding us to make sacrifices in the interest of the earth while forgoing few comforts themselves. Green activist and actor John Travolta likes to spend his free time toying around in one of his five private planes, including a commercial Boeing 707, racking up 800 tons of carbon emissions in the last year. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has managed to promote his idea of an environmentally friendly lifestyle by creating a hydrogen-fueled Hummer—a car that gets a whopping 10-15 miles per gallon—while crisscrossing the country in his private jet. Last year, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (D-Il.) gave a speech in Washington D.C. emphasizing the need to drive more fuel-efficient cars before hopping into his own hybrid car. Several blocks away, he was caught switching from his environmentally friendly ride into a gas-guzzling SUV.

Al Gore can fly all over the world in a private jet, charging $20K to give his global warming PowerPoint presentation to suckers everywhere. What does the Gore-Christ get? Praise, awards, and undeserved recognition.

However, if a U.S. business flies five people to the U.K., there's going to be hell to pay!

Plane flies five passengers from US to London - Telegraph:

A major airline is under fire from environmentalists for flying an aircraft across the Atlantic with only five passengers on board.

The flight from Chicago to London meant that the plane, a Boeing 777, used 22,000 gallons of fuel.

Friends of the Earth said it was 'obscene' to waste so much fuel flying an almost empty plane. It led to American Airlines being accused of reckless behaviour by green lobby groups.

Let's not forget Gov. Schwarzenegger, the environmentalist Republican hypocrite. When you buy carbon credits, you're golden.

Opinion - Editorial: Air Schwarzenegger - sacbee.com:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who once joked that Sacramento was "death," apparently doesn't want to spend many nights in the graveyard.

As the Los Angeles Times reported last week, the governor has been spending nearly every night in his Brentwood mansion, shuttling between Sacramento and Southern California in his private jet.

The governor uses his own money to pay for his Gulfstream flights, which price out at about $10,000 an hour, the Times reports.

And what about the cost to the environment? The governor's staff says he purchases "carbon credits."