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Her response missed the mark.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Aug 01, 2022
Hollywood stars are often criticized for their out-of-touch views of reality and unnecessarily using resources that hinder our environment for their own convenience.
Private jets have become a popular topic of debate as many believe they are overused and emit a substantial amount of carbon.
Taylor Swift is the latest celebrity who has come under fire for her private jet use.
The so-called “environmental enthusiast” has emitted over 8,293.54 metric tons of carbon emissions since the beginning of the year.
She ranked number one in a recent report by The Yard, tracking which celebrities used their private jets most frequently, thus emitting more carbon into the atmosphere.
The average person emits around seven metric tons per year.
According to a report by The Yard, Swift's jet has been used for 170 trips this year.
And though Swift's rep came to her defense, the singer's response to the controversy misses the point.
"Taylor's jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” her rep claimed in a statement. "To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect."
For those concerned about the environment, it's not who is causing the carbon emissions that is the problem. It's the fact that the singer even owns a jet in the first place.
Both Swift and all the people she loans her jet to could fly commercial — and even sit in first class — and be responsible for less environmental damage.
While Swift herself may not be responsible for boarding the jet for every trip it has been used for; it is still her jet and her carbon emissions impacting the environment.
If Swift's best defense is that she generously shares her large carbon footprint with friends, climate activists may have more work to do than previously thought.
Swift's response echoed Drake's had an equally out of touch reaction to his own private jet scandal.
Earlier in Julu he rapper, who flew from Toronto to Hamilton 3 times in June, commented on @realtorontonewz Instagram page, explaining that the quick trips are the aircrafts being moved to another airport.
“This is just them moving planes to whatever airport they are being stored at for anyone who was interested in the logistics,” he wrote. “Nobody takes that flight.”
Again, these private jet owners are failing to recognize that the flight is just as wasteful — if not more wasteful — if it's an empty plane.
These celebrities could afford to fly commercial and still offset their carbon emissions in some way — they could even use the money they save by selling their private jets to do so!
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.