A Yard Study has listed celebrities causing the maximum private jet pollution. American singer Taylor Swift has topped the list. Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather is second while rapper Jay-Z, former baseball player A-Rod and American singer Blake Shelton are among the top five. Steven Spielberg, Kim Kardashian, Mark Wahlberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Travis Scott are also on the list.
According to research conducted by A Yard Study, the average amount of CO2 emissions produced only by the celebrities’ private jets in 2022 so far is 3376.64 tonnes each.
Kim Kardashian’s private plane made four flights of under 20 minutes in the past two months
According to data from a celebrity flight-tracker, Kim Kardashian’s private plane made four flights in under 20 minutes in the past two months. The private plane belonging to her half-sister, Kylie Jenner, did twice as many, the tracker found.
On 24 July, Kim Kardashian’s plane made a 40-mile, 10-minute journey between Van Nuys and Camarillo, California. The trip required 81 gallons of fuel and emitted 1 tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is about the same as a gas-powered car emits being driven for six months.
Who else is on the list?
A customized Boeing 767 airliner owned by Drake is named “Air Drake”. It made five short flights in the same period.
The Boeing 767 is normally used by airlines to fly a couple of hundred people on intercontinental flights. It emitted 21 tonnes of CO2 on the five trips, the analysis found. This is the equivalent of emissions to four US homes’ electricity use for a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
What about other celebrities?
Private planes which reportedly belong to other celebrities including Steven Spielberg, Mark Wahlberg, and the boxer Floyd Mayweather also took flights over similarly short distances.
On 17 July, Mayweather’s plane reportedly took two flights back and forth between Las Vegas-area airports, every 10 minutes or less. The route used 124 gallons of fuel for a round trip of just over 20 miles, CelebJets reported.
Separate analyses identified A-listers who are even worse emitters with their private jets overall.
According to a separate analysis of CelebJets data by sustainability-focused data and tech agency Yard Group, when factoring in all flight lengths, pop star Taylor Swift was the biggest emitter this year. The singer spent nearly 16 full days’ worth of time in the air this year, emitting 8,293.54 tonnes of Co2 and traveling an average of about 140 miles per flight, the research found.
“It’s easy to get lost in the dazzling lives of the rich and famous, but unfortunately, they’re a massive part of the CO2e problem we have with the aviation industry,” Yard’s sustainability director Chris Butterworth wrote.
“Aviation is responsible for 2.4% of human-produced CO2e every year, and research shows a vast divide between the super-rich and the rest of us regarding flights, travel, and even general emissions.”
“Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals: Representatives
“Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals. To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect,” a spokesperson stated.
The CelebJets account is run by Jack Sweeney. He is a University of Central Florida student coder. He has become renowned for his skills in using publicly-available aviation data to track the movements of Russian oligarchs and Elon Musk, who reportedly offered the 19-year-old $5,000 to stop posting his whereabouts.
Top 10 celebrity CO2 emission offenders of this year so far
1) Taylor Swift: 8,293.54 tonnes
2. Floyd Mayweather: 7,076.8 tonnes
3. Jay-Z: 6,981.3 tonnes of CO2
4. A-Rod: 5,342.7 tonnes
5. Blake Shelton: 4495 tonnes
6. Steven Spielberg: 4,465 tonnes
7. Kim Kardashian: 4268.5 tonnes
8. Mark Wahlberg: 3772.85 tonnes
9. Oprah Winfrey: 3,493.17 tonnes
10. Travis Scott: 3033.3 tonnes
