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?
The top comment wasn’t what I expected at all.
LA Filmer
Bay Area
2h ago
My son and I were in San Diego a couple of years ago looking at yachts. We saw one enormous yacht and we looked it up on the Internet. It turned out it was Bill Gates’s support yacht for his primary yacht. It was probably 300 feet long. Its role was to carry fancy water, toys, extra staff, and fuel and food for the primary yacht.
Why do we even listen to this guy? Until he walks the talk, he’s just another major contributor to the problem. You can’t be green if you fly in a private plane. You can’t be green if you live in a mega mansion. You can’t be green if you own multiple mega yachts. It doesn’t matter if you use sustainable fuels or renewables. Bill, live like the rest of us and then you’ll have more credibility.
Also, Bill, I’d like to hear you talk about the negative impact you’ve had on the planet through anti-competitive practices and stimulating the growth of the personal computer. For all of your investments in clean tech, you’re still deep down a negative carbon debt hole I bet.
Quit telling us how to live our lives and why don’t you fix your own. You can start by selling your plane, your mega mansions and your yachts.
terribly uncivil the way he points out specific criticisms of someone with more money than him. closing this comment section since y’all just can’t behave
: “Clean up AFTER MYSELF! BUT AH DUN WANNA! That’s your job, poor!”Our so-called betters are mentally spoiled 5-year old children. Literally they won’t even clean up after their own mess because they’re too lazy to.
you can afford the extra cost of sustainable aviation fuel made from low-carbon crops and waste
i mean, if we’re going to invoke the use of materials that don’t exist, just say, “if you’re mega rich, you can stop using transportation and afford to teleport everywhere using geothermal teleportation devices.”
fuck this guy sideways, seize all of his assets and put everything he “owns” (tech licenses, land, etc) to be held in the public trust for communities. send him to be alone on one of his epstein islands, cut off the water, power, and every other resource being carted in. if he survives 10 years, he is allowed to have a 20 minute ted talk.
if he survives 10 years, he is allowed to have a 20 minute ted talk.
That’s generous. And if his talk is disappointing - back on the island he goes for another 10 years for a “big think”.
That’s generous.
lol, i try to be nice. pretty sure he wouldn’t make it 45 days. he would dwindle down to like 2% body fat and then drown after falling into 3 feet of water and not be able to find his footing, float, or sit up.
He starts talking to himself. “There is food on and near the island. For example - I will innovate my way into this coconut!” Unfortunately the last time he used a tool was in 1992 when his handyman and aides were busy with other projects that morning. He used a screwdriver and in trying to hang a painting the stripped the screw and the $400,000 painting nearly fell to the ground. It was insured of course but still. He had to wait a few hours until others fixed the problem.
He finds an impact rock. He sets up the coconut on a flat base rock. He takes aim. He brings the impact rock down on the coconut. The coconut “jumps” on impact and the impact rock badly cuts his other hand. “Oh fuck that hurts! That cut is deep. I need to go to the emergency ro— Okay, okay. Stay relaxed. I will innovate my way out of this problem. I wonder if I can make a painkiller out of coconut bark? Or leaves of something? Fuck does this hurt!..”
Bill Gates is buying up all the farmland in the US because his life goal is to be the world’s biggest Kulak.
Pardon the sectarianism, but billionaire’s shameless bourgeoisie decadence has really taken the sting out of the ‘totalitarian/authoritarian’ label:
The government self-righteously refusing to challenge corporate power because “muh freedumz”? Guess what, corporations replace the government and regulate us. Sure, it’s okay because they paid for it and it’s all their rightful property, you know, just like a king.
“Stop complaining that ‘Wah, wah, wah - Billionaires run the world.’ Of course we do. Somebody has to. Look - I’m a billionaire and we billionaires need and desire everything. And that - duh - includes all the food. If you work hard and save up - you can have a carrot or whatever once in a while at a special treat. Now eat your Soylent Green, shut up, and get back to work. The speed of innovation must increase. I’m 68 and a tragedy could happen if I die before high-wealth individuals get access to life extension therapy.”
“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!”“Just paying taxes” while I don’t disagree with, people like Bill Gates also choose where that tax money goes: to the military so they can vicariously feel tough.
