Bill Gates has long been at the forefront of the movement to make America’s working class lead the world’s fight against Climate Change. Whether it is attempting to change our diets to consist mainly of bugs or pushing us further toward the exclusive use of electric vehicles, Gates is always campaigning for something.
Now, an interview between Bill Gates and the BBC has made its way around the web, showing Gates proclaiming that he is not at fault for using a private jet for his frequent travel. In fact, he informs the interviewer, he is not, in fact, the problem, but rather a large part of the solution. Here is the interview in question.
NEW: A BBC reporter asked Bill Gates directly why his climate activism should be taken seriously, as he continues to fly private all over the world:
Gates tried to assure the reporter that, despite his private jet usage, he is not part of the problem, he’s part of the solution. pic.twitter.com/U6f8Ymcp4l
— Will Hild (@WillHild) February 7, 2023
When asked if he feels like a hypocrite for his private jet usage Gates gave this answer:
“Well, I buy the gold standard of funding Climeworks to do direct air capture that far exceeds my family’s carbon footprint, and I spent billions of dollars on Climate innovation.”
Bill Gates is making the argument that many young children are making every day in this country. He sounds like he’s telling his mom that even though he broke the lamp in the living room, all is even because he cleaned his room afterward.
Gates then goes on to say that his humanitarian work in Kenya makes his frequent solo flying all good in the eyes of morality:
“Should I stay at home and not come to Kenya and learn about farming and malaria?”
It seems that Gates may have missed the point of the question. Nobody insinuated that he shouldn’t go to Kenya to fight malaria and help the local population, do whatever you want in your free time. But some are saying that if he can’t find a lower emission plan to do so, like flying commercial, he then becomes a hypocrite after all of his climate preaching over recent years.
ZeroHedge dug deep into the jet trails left by Gates in 2017, and found these extravagant numbers, writing:
“Gates, who has declared that the energy crisis is a good thing, owns no fewer than FOUR private jets at a combined cost of $194 million dollars.
A study carried out by Linnaeus University economics professor Stefan Gössling found that Gates flew more than 213,000 miles on 59 private jet flights in 2017 alone.
Gates emitted an estimated 1,760 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, over a hundred times more than the emissions per capita in the United States, according to data from the World Bank.”
The World Wildlife Fund seemingly agrees as they have pushed back against ever-growing air travel and the emissions that planes cause. Here is what they have to say:
“Aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change. In fact, if the entire aviation sector were a country, it would be one of the top 10 carbon-polluting nations on the planet. Air travel is also currently the most carbon intensive activity an individual can make.”
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