If anyone thinks their carbon footprint is smaller than that of Bill Gates, who flies around the world frequently in his large private jet, they would be wrong according to Gates. Why? Because Gates donates money to climate activists and businesses, therefore “offsets” the damage.
The co-founder of Microsoft and self-proclaimed climate activist, Gates says he needs his gas-guzzling private jet in order to facilitate his mission to help the climate. “Well, I, by the gold standard of, funding Climeworks, to do direct air capture that far exceeds my family’s carbon footprint,” Gates told BBC last week when asked about how he frequently travels on private planes.
“I’m comfortable with the idea that not only am I not part of the problem by paying for the offsets, but also through the billions that my Breakthrough Energy group is spending, that I am part of the solution,” he added.
Climeworks is a European firm that specializes in carbon capture technology which removes emissions from the atmosphere. Last year, the company announced it had signed a 10-year deal with Microsoft to become the software corporation’s first supplier of long-term, technology-based carbon removal.
Gates has given millions of dollars to various carbon removal and climate technology companies through Breakthrough Energy, his organization that invests in sustainable innovation projects. Gates Ventures is also one of several funding partners of ClimateWorks, a non-profit organization that works to advance climate solutions and technology around the world.
Private jet travel is by far the most carbon-intensive mode of transportation and emits 10 times more carbon than commercial planes and 50 times more carbon than trains, according to a 2021 report from the group Transport & Environment.
Another hypocrite of epic proportions is none other than President Joe Biden’s ‘Climate Czar’ John Kerry. Kerry has traveled on his private jet to places such as to Iceland in order to accept an environmental award. Somehow the irony was lost on liberals.
Kerry’s defense was equally as pathetic as Gates: “If you offset your carbon, it’s the only choice for somebody like me, who is traveling the world to win this battle,” Kerry told Icelandic reporter Jóhann Bjarni Kolbeinsson in 2019. “I’ve been involved in this fight for years.”
“I believe the time it takes me to get somewhere, I can’t sail across the ocean, I have to fly to meet with people and get things done,” Kerry added. “But what I’m doing almost full-time is working to win the battle of climate change. And in the end, if I offset and contribute my life to do this, I’m not going to be put on the defensive.”
Fox News reports that It is unclear how Kerry has offset his private jet emissions considering a Fox News Digital report that since President Biden appointed him to climate czar in January of 2021, his family jet has emitted more than 300 metric tons.