Elon Musk and other billionaires’ habit of using private jets may be harmful to the environment, contrary to his environmental protection views.
Recently, an account tracking Elon Musk’s private jet showed that he repeatedly flew his expensive private jet on a 5-minute flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Hawthorne Airport.
If it were for commuting purposes, Musk would only need about 10-20 minutes to complete the 6-mile journey by car. However, it is likely that the ultra-short flight was to a parking or maintenance point at Hawthorne Airport.
Elon Musk’s private jet often flies short flights, lasting less than 30 minutes. Photo: Astonia.
According to Jack Sweeney, who tracks Musk and celebrity flights, ultra-short flights are often due to high parking fees at major airports. In Kylie Jenner’s case, she added 17 minutes to her flight to Camarillo.
“The parking fee at Camarillo airport is probably much lower. So Kylie got off in Van Nuys but made an extra flight to Camarillo,” Sweeney wrote on her personal page.
As a result, celebrities are typically not on these flights. But Sweeney still criticizes them for causing huge fuel losses and a major impact on the environment.
Emissions and fuel waste
Whatever the reason, ultra-short flights are having a very negative impact on the environment. According to Jack Sweeney, celebrities like Musk have created the same amount of emissions as the average person in a year, despite the Tesla CEO himself repeatedly calling on the community to live green and save fuel.
Starting in 2021, Sweeney’s automated plane tracking accounts will include fuel consumption to better understand the environmental impact of private jet flights.
In May, the Tesla CEO was caught using his private jet for a 9-minute flight from San Jose, California to San Francisco, which cost $7,834 in fuel and produced 14 tons of CO2 emissions.
Similarly, his 25-minute flight on July 17 to the Greek island of Mykonos consumed more than 650 kg of fuel, equivalent to 1,462 USD, and emitted 2 tons of CO2 into the environment.
Elon Musk’s habit of using private jets has been criticized because it goes against Tesla’s environmental protection goals. Photo: Malaysia Trend.
According to research by the non-governmental organization Transport & Environment, private jets emit more than 33 million tons of greenhouse gases, much more than the combined population of Denmark.
On the other hand, because they carry few people, they often pollute 5-14 times more than commercial airplanes and 50 times more than trains.
“Ultra-short flights show how the super-rich are contributing to global emissions,” said Scott Hochberg, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute.
This action of the billionaire has been criticized by many people. “As CEO of Tesla, the company always claims to be environmentally friendly, Musk uses a private plane to travel a short distance. This emits more emissions than I would if I drove a car in a year,” user @fonsi_hersin expressed his anger.
Common points of the super rich
Sharing with CNBC , Sweeney said he was not surprised by Kylie’s 12-minute flight because he had seen billionaire Musk fly shorter flights on his plane but no one objected.
“There are many reasons why people are surprised by this information. But the flights of these celebrities are always so short,” the young man said.
Taylor Swift’s private jet has been ranked as the most polluting private jet since the beginning of this year.
As for Musk, Sweeney said he has many reasons for traveling such a short distance by plane. He said most of his flights are work-related rather than just for leisure.
“With Musk, he’s just trying to get through his schedule as quickly as possible,” Sweeney said.
However, according to Jack Sweeney, celebrities like Musk have created the same amount of emissions as the average person emits in a year, despite repeatedly calling on the community to live green and save fuel.
“They say one thing and do another. Of course they have the right to show off their wealth, but they shouldn’t waste it like that,” the 19-year-old boy expressed his indignation.
Not only Elon Musk, many other celebrities also like to use private jets for short flights.
According to experts, this problem stems from celebrities like Elon Musk or Kylie Jenner having the habit of using private jets because they have a worse impact on the environment than regular commercial aircraft.
According to The Guardian , emissions from private jets in the US have increased sharply since 1990 and will continue to explode as they become more widely used by the super-rich.
In 2019, short-haul private jet flights of less than 500 km accounted for 10% of all flights in France. So, despite making up just 1% of the population, the super-rich are responsible for more than half of global emissions due to their luxury flights.
On July 30, the New York Post published a list of celebrity private planes that emit the highest amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the environment since the beginning of the year, according to Yard’s research.
Taylor Swift’s private jet is the most polluting, emitting nearly 8,300 tons of CO2. Even when not on tour, the Blank Space singer still uses her private jet, with an average flight time of 80 minutes and more than 139 miles per flight.
