I think his “Yeah, I fly all over the globe in my private jet” take is horror comedy.
Very wealthy individuals should also be making changes to their lifestyles to bring their emissions close to zero. If you fly in a private jet, as I do, you can afford the extra cost of sustainable aviation fuel made from low-carbon crops and waste. You’ll not only lower your own emissions; you’ll also help drive demand for clean fuel, which will increase the supply and eventually make it cheap enough to use more widely in commercial aircraft. That will be a game changer for reducing emissions from long-distance air travel, which remains one of the toughest climate problems.
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A comment…
Edward
Wichita, KS
2h ago
Dear Mr. Gates, thanks for your concern. Having just read in these pages that ethanol is now going to be the the basis for jet fuel, I’m sure every farm in the US will now grow corn exclusively. That should be great for the purveyors of bottled water, as the aquifers will drain even faster. But private jet owners can congratulate themselves that their global emissions are pure.
How about just paying taxes?
5·1 year ago
“Or at the very least our pathetic attempts at geo-engineering and terrareforming will have such disastrous ‘unforeseen’ consequences that enough of you will die and I can just go back to burning fossil fuels the way God intended!”