Taylor Swift leads a list of the largest celebrity "climate criminals" put up by the UK-based sustainability marketing company Yard. According to Yard's research, her jet made no less than 170 trips in 2022, resulting in 8,293 tons of CO2 emissions.
Despite the fact that excess and illegal indulgence are baked into the Kardashian-Jenner brand while Swift has built a more folksy image, Swift immediately eclipsed Kylie Jenner as the face of the problem. However, many people reacted with astonishment as much as fury. Many people found the contrast humorous, and Swift quickly started to be ridiculed.
Swift's agent explained to Rolling Stone in response to criticism that the singer didn't always utilize the singer's planes, saying:
Taylor frequently lends out his jet to other people. It would be outrageous to blame her for the majority or all of these journeys.
The clarification was not unexpected because Swift's followers are aware that she is just as brutally business-minded as the Kardashian-Jenners, despite her image as a cottage-core girl.
Fans voiced their displeasure with the singer on the Taylor Swift fan subreddit, r/TaylorSwift, adding that the point wasn't that Swift's aircraft were lent to others but rather that the singer's jets were permitted to spew truckloads of carbon into our sky.
Some fans had the opposite reaction, dismissing the issue outright and calling the list "misinformation."
One devoted follower even created their own list on Twitter showcasing Swift's alleged environmental benefits. The thread was swiftly deleted when the internet laughed at it since it mentioned that Swift had sold one of her two private jets and stressed the singer's love of penguins.
Celebrity Climate Criminals Get Called Out
Taylor Swift wasn't the only "climate criminal" on the list, though; Jay-Z, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Blake Shelton, Steven Spielberg, Kim Kardashian, Mark Wahlberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Travis Scott were the other pollutants (ironically, Kylie Jenner never actually made the list).
Drake also tried to correct the record in reaction to information about his own unnecessary flights by informing fans that none of his three absurdly brief flights had passengers, but this didn't exactly lessen the anger.
Public access to flight data must be a great pain because celebrities almost certainly prefer to spew their emissions in secret. The wealthy and famous don't appear interested in decreasing their emissions, only in creating excuses for them.
The public is throwing water balloons on a home fire while the affluent are tossing gasoline, but when heat records continue to break and the air grows thick with smoke, those tiny paper straws and recycling sorting bins won't cut it.
Celebrities won't suddenly alter their minds, but they may feel forced to cut back on their outrageous waste because it's one of the few things the public can take away from them.
The Real Climate Criminal: Who Is He?
A boat that has the same carbon footprint after seven miles of sailing that one automobile does in a year was seen in January by actor and well-known environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who appeared in the climate comedy "Don't Look Up." This year, Mark Ruffalo, a member of the elite Hollywood community and self-described climate crusader, spearheaded the effort to close the Indian Point Nuclear Plant in New York, a decision that immediately increased emissions in the Empire State.
A boat that has the same carbon footprint after seven miles of sailing that one automobile does in a year was seen in January by actor and well-known environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who appeared in the climate comedy "Don't Look Up." This year, Mark Ruffalo, a member of the elite Hollywood community and self-described climate crusader, spearheaded the effort to close the Indian Point Nuclear Plant in New York, a decision that immediately increased emissions in the Empire State.
Even while the left asserts that they "follow science," their characterization of capitalism as "unredeemable" and "the ultimate pursuit of profit at any cost to human, environmental, and social well-being" impedes both climate change and human advancement. Countries that uphold the ideals of economic freedom are twice as clean as those that do not, according to C3 Solutions' study Free Economies are Clean Economies.
By proposing rational solutions that are good for both the environment and the economy, conservatives in Congress are starting to turn the tables on the environmental left. Rep. Garett Graves (R-LA) is the chairman of the Republican Energy, Climate, and Conservation taskforce, which has been releasing six major policy topics this summer that would reduce global emissions and boost prosperity.
The principles' publication coincides with a period of historically high inflation and energy prices for consumers. Conservatives are providing a significant upgrade to the command and control tactics of the progressive left, which are having a destructive effect on Europe's energy sector and economic well-being, by proposing robust alternatives that can both lower emissions and boost energy security.
Although the American people are experiencing the effects of climate change, many have grown weary of the issue's politization. There is a real need for climate solutions that are founded on economic freedom, as recent polling from our sister group C3 Action demonstrates.
Current legislation that has bipartisan support and can cut global emissions in an economically viable way is described in C3's Climate and Freedom Agenda. Politicians from both sides of the aisle may contribute to the advancement of sensible legislation that fosters American innovation and invests in cutting-edge technology by working together.
Americans have every right to be angered by the dishonesty of Hollywood's elites when it comes to climate change, but the real "climate criminals" are the activists and politicians who prioritize their causes above effective, bipartisan action.
