Opinion: Swift and the billionaire community hold great responsibility in the climate crisis
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Last month, the Internet swarmed about Taylor Swift’s recent carbon emissions report. Swift once again topped the list of “biggest CO2-polluting celebrities” for 2023. Yet the reason behind the high number received greater backlash.
In just three months, Swift released 138 tons of emissions to visit her latest boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The 12 flights on her private jet added to the additional excess of travel time from her ongoing tour, “Eras.”
To put it into perspective, the average person worldwide produces 4 tons annually. It would take Swift planting 2,282 trees and allowing them to grow for a decade to offset the carbon footprint from her romantic rendezvous.
Swift isn’t new to the carbon emissions debate, as her private jet usage was already on climate activists’ radar last year.
Private jets are the most polluting form of transportation, as they are hard to decarbonize. With an average flight time of 80 minutes, Swift created more than 1,194 times more carbon emissions than the average person.
Swift’s publicity team responded to the backlash on her continuous behavior. According to UNILAD, a spokesperson for Swift said, “Before the tour kicked off in March of 2023, Taylor purchased more than double the carbon credits needed to offset all tour travel.”
“The excess credits means Taylor could have accounted for more than enough to cover her latest romance springing up in the middle of her sell-out tour, with her trips to support Kelce upping her carbon emissions alongside her planned tour travels,” they said in a written statement.
Carbon credits are measurable emission reductions from climate action projects. They’re a way for large businesses and rich individuals to offset their carbon outtake. However, scientists don’t believe carbon credits actually work, mainly because there’s no standardized way to measure carbon offsets.
Swift is not the only source of massive amounts of carbon emissions. She stands with many other billionaires and celebrities, such as Jay-Z and Oprah Winfrey.
Unsurprisingly, billionaires are the leading cause of carbon emissions. In a global climate inequality study, the top 1% was responsible for more emissions than the poorest 66%, accounting for 16% of all CO2 emissions in 2019.
Yet this responsibility lacks consequence. While the top 1% lives lavishly in their mansions, the poorer population reaps all the environmental effects. Groups such as people living in poverty, marginalized ethnic communities, migrants and women are exposed to extreme weather conditions.
Climate responsibility is distributed inadequately. The working class is expected to be environmentally conscious while the billionaire continues to pollute the Earth.
Valentine Bentz, a third-year student at the University of Oregon, is frustrated with the billionaire carbon emissions crisis as a member of the Climate Justice League.
“Climate change is happening now, and most people are forced to bear its impacts and participate in the systems that create them. For celebrities and billionaires, creating emissions and experiencing climate change are choices,” Bentz said.
In terms of Swift, her impact goes further than just the climate. Her image and choices are highly influential to the Swiftie fan base, who make up 53% of the U.S. population.
Her fans, known as the Swifties, excuse her actions. They’d rather idolize her than hold her accountable. This raises bigger concerns, such as whether climate change is taken seriously. If Swift doesn’t care for the environment, why should her fans?
“For billionaires and celebrities, it is well within their privilege and power to lead by example and shift their outsized impact from one that is negative to one that is radically restorative and healing for the planet, its people and our futures,” Bentz said.
Ultimately, it’s going to take more than carbon credits to fight climate change. Swift and the billionaire community have a larger impact than they realize — both socially and environmentally.
Hobbs: Taylor Swift, private jets and climate change
Monica Hobbs
January 10, 2024
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