If you have been present on the internet for the last few weeks, then you have most likely seen the hate towards Taylor Swift for her frequent private jet usage. Although a majority of recent hostility toward Swift came from her NFL appearances, the internet has found another reason to put the award-winning singer-songwriter under fire. This time, the targeted messages online are justified by anger for unnecessary private jet trips’ contributions to global warming. But is Swift the only one adding to this problem?
The main culprit of the situation is the CO2 released from the private jets. They tend to be less fuel efficient as well as emitting higher levels of greenhouse gases. CO2, aka carbon dioxide, is necessary to the Earth’s atmosphere to keep the global temperature above freezing. This is why too much CO2 causes global temperatures to rise, directly contributing to global warming. In regards to Swift’s part in this, the Carbon Watch Market states that her private jet usage amounted to 8,300 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2022. This is more than 1,800 times the average human’s emissions. Despite Swift’s alarming carbon emissions, she isn’t the only celebrity who has emitted large amounts of CO2 through private jet usage.
Mostly everybody can point out that Swift is one of the top celebrities who receives the most hate online for various reasons. People like to pick on her because she is an extremely successful woman. But this doesn’t mean that other celebrities should be excused from their actions while Swift takes all the blame. EuroNews states that 200 celebrities produced around 415,518 tonnes of CO2 in 2023 alone. These celebrities include Elon Musk, the Kardashians, and more. Kim Kardashian, who was named one of the biggest private jet users, even recently released a commercial around the idea of global warming to promote her new Skims lingerie line.
Finding a solution to this problem seems easy: Celebs should just fly commercially to reduce their private jet emissions. But this would cause many problems, such as being harassed or even stalked in public. Another solution to this issue, which many celebrities have jumped on, is carbon offsetting. Many celebrities, such as Swift, have purchased carbon “credits” through the government. These credits go towards funding other initiatives to reduce CO2 such as renewable energy, solar and wind power, and providing clean water. Despite this, many climate scientists are not convinced carbon credits offset CO2.
There is no way to prove how much CO2 will truly be absorbed by other methods of offsetting the greenhouse gas. The best way to fight greenhouse gas emissions is simply to reduce the emissions in the first place. Celebrities should begin to use their platforms to preach about climate change rather than profiting off of it while people on the internet should begin to hold every celebrity accountable for their emissions rather than just picking and choosing one.