Jezz Bezos and Elon Musk emit more carbon pollution in 90 minutes than the average human does in their entire life. That’s according to a new report from Oxfam International, a British NGO that fights poverty.
The report, first spotted by The Register, looked at the carbon output of the private jets, superyachts, and investments of the world’s 50 richest billionaires and compared it to what the rest of us are doing. “Half of the world’s emissions come from the richest 10% of people. The wealthiest 1% by income account for 16% of emissions, which is more than the poorest two-thirds of people in the world,” Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s director said in a press release about the study.
The world’s billionaires fly 184 times in a single year on average, spending about 425 hours in the air. According to Oxfam, that generates as much carbon as the average person would produce in 300 years. The yachts are worse.
“Oxfam identified 23 superyachts owned by 18 billionaires and estimates the average annual carbon footprint of each of these yachts to be 5,672 tonnes, which is more than three times the emissions of the billionaires’ private jets,” the report said. “This is equivalent to 860 years of emissions for the average person in the world, and 5,600 times the average of someone in the global poorest 50%.”
One of the biggest carbon emitters was the Walton family, of Walmart fame. The Walton heirs own three superyachts which travel 56,000 nautical miles a year for a combined footprint of 18,000 tonnes of carbon. “This is equivalent to the carbon emissions of around 1,700 Walmart shop workers,” Oxfam said in its report.
According to the report, Elon Musk has at least two private jets which produce a combined total of 5,497 tonnes per year of CO2. Jeff Bezos has two private jets that spent around 25 days in the air, emitting 2,908 tonnes of CO2. “It would take the average US Amazon employee 207 years to emit that much,” the report said.
As the planet steadily warmed, there was a push to use personal consumer choices as a way to fight climate change. Although it’s good for your body and the planet to use public transportation or bikes for your commute instead of driving, there’s a limit to how much it helps. One person not driving to work every day is a drop in the bucket in terms of global carbon emissions. There is simply no amount of flights you can avoid to cancel out the industrial carbon output of China or India.
It’s different for billionaires. People like Musk and Bezos can eliminate massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere simply by not flying. Hell, even flying half as much or selling a superyacht would do some good.
We know that Musk and Bezos are concerned about climate change. Musk famously invested in Tesla because he saw gas-powered cars as a major contributor to the heating of the planet. Bezos has a charity that pumps billions into research on food inequality and climate.
But both men are also trying to leave the planet. As they’ve accumulated more wealth, Bezos and Musk have spent much of their time and cash on Blue Origin and SpaceX. Neither are shy about why. They want to leave the planet and its ailing climate behind. As the rockets leave Earth, they’ll spew thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. Those without the money to buy a first-class seat will be left to fix the problems these billionaires helped create.
Unless, of course, you’re willing to sell your future to Musk for a chance to win it big in the off-world colonies.
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