‘The transportation sector accounts for about 26% of carbon pollution emissions…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has spent more money on private jet travel than any other Democratic candidate.
Last quarter, he wrote a $1.2 million check to Apollo Jets LLC, a “luxury private jet charter service,” according to the company’s website.
And just this week, Sanders boarded yet another private jet on his way to a campaign event in Massachusetts, according to TMZ.
Unfortunately for Sanders, he suffered a “campaign brain fart” and boarded the wrong private jet.
Sanders isn’t the only Democratic candidate to fly privately.
Both he and Elizabeth Warren were spotted boarding private jets after the Iowa caucuses.
So long (for now). @BernieSanders and @ewarren are both on their way back to DC. Here they each are boarding flights from the same general aviation area at DSM just 36 minutes apart. pic.twitter.com/iWLYh3cGKb
— Adam Kelsey (@adamkelsey) February 3, 2020
Joe Biden, too, spent $1,040,698 on private travel, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
But Sanders is one of the only candidates who has made a point about the effects air travel can have on the environment.
He has endorsed the Green New Deal, which would attempt to limit the carbon emissions produced by the transportation sector.
“Global climate change is real, it is caused mainly by emissions released from burning fossil fuels and it poses a catastrophic threat to the long-term longevity of our planet,” Sanders’s campaign website states. “The transportation sector accounts for about 26% of carbon pollution emissions.”
Yet, traveling by private jet produces eight times more carbon per passenger than traveling commercially, according to the Independent.
“The reason traveling by private jet isn’t considered particularly green is because, although the amount of fuel burnt and therefore CO2 emitted is a lot lower than a commercial jet, generally speaking there will be far fewer people on board,” the Independent said.
“Private flights are therefore considerably less efficient, and the personal carbon footprint of passengers who choose to travel this way is much higher,” it added.