We Need to Talk About Celebrities Polluting Our Atmosphere with Their Frivolous Private Jet Trips

Early February 2024, Taylor Swift made headlines after her lawyers threatened legal action against Jack Sweeney. The user on X, formerly Twitter, is known for creating accounts that log the private jet trips of celebrities and has previously been in trouble due to his tracking of Elon Musk and other celebrities on the site. His set of accounts, which were cited in an analysis in 2022, found that Swift was one of the biggest celebrity polluters due to her frivolous use of air travel. Her legal team is claiming, despite the public availability of flight record information, Sweeney’s sharing of this information is a form of “harassing conduct”, as the information shared has been used to shame her traveling habits.

But, despite concerns of defamation and a growing public sentiment against the wastefulness of private aviation, celebrities like Swift have shown little augmentation to their over-consumptive lifestyles. Instead, they seek to silence those who report on it, and/or pay for carbon credits which overestimate their benefit. We, as fans, listeners, and watchers deserve better from those we place on a pedestal. We must emphasize pressuring the rich and successful to take action to stop harming our environment.

The availability and use of private jets has exploded recently, with one out of every six FAA-handled flights reported as private jets. This metric is concerning, considering “private jets emit at least 10 times more pollutants than commercial planes per passenger [and that emissions] have increased by more than 23% as private jet use has risen by about a fifth since the COVID-19 pandemic began”. Simultaneously, there has been a noticeable shift in societal attitudes towards responsible aviation in the last few years. The rise of followers on flight trackers indicates a growing awareness of the environmental impact of air travel, especially when such actions seem superfluous.

With climate change at the forefront of global concerns, individuals and communities are increasingly advocating for sustainable alternatives and holding the aviation industry accountable for its carbon emissions. This shift is not only evident in consumer choices but also in the demands placed on airlines and policymakers to prioritize eco-friendly practices and invest in cleaner technologies. As we attempt to navigate towards a more sustainable future, these changing attitudes underscore the pressing need for collaboration and innovation to reconcile the convenience of air travel with the imperative to protect our planet.

Private jets aren’t necessarily one of the biggest causes of pollution, especially in comparison to other forms of transportation, industry, and electricity. They do, however, output a ridiculous carbon emission per person in comparison to commercial jets. Most planes typically burn a considerable amount of aviation fuel, releasing greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and water vapor into the atmosphere, but these numbers are offset when large groups travel together. When people travel in private jets instead, the travel becomes significantly less efficient, further compounding the environmental impact. This, of course, is exacerbated when the well-off use their jets for frivolous trips like grocery shopping and generally traveling short distances.

When the research was published on jet emissions, many rallied against those highlighted in the study. Among the worst offenders for the year were Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Blake Shelton, Steven Spielberg, and Jay-Z. It’s important to understand here that the celebrities listed in the report are not comprehensive, they are simply the most obvious offenders based on the automations of Jack Sweeney’s accounts.

Other celebrities and private jet-owning folks most certainly must not be off the hook when a report like this highlights the superfluous use of resources. There are roughly 24,000 jets in operation worldwide (15,000 of which are registered in the United States). Focusing on shaming the worst of the worst is counterproductive when the problem is so much larger than just ten offenders of CO2 emissions.

In the future, there are a wide variety of solutions that may be employed to improve the sustainability of private air travel. The use of alternative fuels, the development of technology that improves the efficiency of air travel, and the potential for electric planes all must be considered viable, and these developments may one day make private jet travel relatively low-impact on our planet.

But, for now, these technological advancements are still being developed, and it may be years before we see them as viable solutions to the carbon emissions of private jet use. With the state of our planet and the encroaching effects of climate change, we simply cannot idly wait for this advancement, we must mitigate now (we should have already mitigated this, truthfully). As the tech develops, we simply cannot afford to allow business as usual.

Celebrities, corporations, and other influencers wield significant power in shaping public opinion and behavior, especially regarding sustainability. Through their large platforms and disproportionate amount of resources, they have the power to drive awareness and advocate for environmentally conscious practices — but that ability must be considered a great responsibility too. We must urge people with larger platforms to use their influence and resources for good by promoting sustainable lifestyles and acting consciously about how they are using humanity’s limited resources. Influencers have to choose between contributing to the collective effort towards a healthy planet or harming it, and we as consumers must hold them accountable for the choices they make.

And we, as fans, viewers, and audience members, have to choose to focus on that accountability. We must press hard on those artists we adore, we must continue actively holding the successful and wealthy accountable to the standards we deserve, especially when it’s what they’re advocating for. Speaking out against air travel is a start, a good start at that, but it’s the collective action and unwavering commitment to holding the powerful accountable that will pave the way for a more sustainable future.

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P.S. To influencers and private jet owners, if you truly wish to have society off your back about your plane travel and carbon output, consider planning more efficient travel routes or, perhaps, instead of paying carbon offset hush money, put your wealth into investing for more sustainable flight technology, or maybe just consider choosing more eco-friendly methods to travel where you need to go.

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Cross-posted from Medium. Follow my main account for new articles every Friday! :)