Eat the rich – save the world
We live in a world where money can buy almost anything, and being rich is generally perceived as something positive. You have more time, freedom, power and, arguably, more happiness. However, we’re missing one crucial point. Rich people are single-handedly annihilating our planet. I’m not just talking about the uberwealthy either. Any inflated spending power (e.g., celebrities, highly successful business owners, and trust-fund babies) automatically translates to an extensive carbon footprint, regardless of the possessors’ intentions.
First let’s start by dissecting the filthy rich. I’m talking about the likes of Musk, Bezos, Gates, Branson - the top one per cent of all wealthy people. Their affluence is excessive to a nauseating degree, and not just because we are all out here struggling to survive whilst they’re sitting on their thrones of billions. More and more frequently we are seeing them self-funding joyrides to space and back, with a single 11-minute mission emitting at least 75 tonnes of carbon dioxide per passenger. This is larger than the carbon footprint of the poorest billion people, and more than the average person will generate in their entire lifetime. Even without their quick trips into space, almost all of the world’s billionaires own yachts and planes and multiple mansions, which drives up their greenhouse gas emissions immensely.
“Flying on a private jet is probably the worst thing you can do for the environment,” says Transport and Environment (T&E) Aviation Director Andrew Murphy; which is why multi-millionaires and celebrity icons are not that much greener than those in the top one per cent.
Research has shown that the world’s wealthiest 10 per cent are responsible for around half of all global carbon emissions, and that in 2022 so far, celebrities have emitted more than 3376.64 tonnes of CO2 each just through private jet usage. To put that into perspective, the average person emits only seven tonnes of CO2 annually.
Kylie Jenner recently posted a photo on Instagram of her and Travis Scott’s private jets, captioned “you wanna take mine or yours?”. This is a perfect example of the blissfully ignorant lifestyle that wealthy people lead, and resulted in many fans slamming the post for its ‘classless boasting’ amid the climate crisis and the rising costs of living. However, a survey taken by ‘Celebrity Jets’ showed that Kylie Jenner doesn’t even make the top 10 worst celebrity private jet offenders – she actually sits in 19th place.
Our number one celebrity climate killer is pop princess Taylor Swift, who’s total flight emissions rack up to a whooping 8,293.54 tonnes since January. Just under her is Floyd Mayweather, sitting on 7,076.80 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Then comes Drake, Jay Z, Kim Kardashian… the list goes on.
The answer to climate change now seems pretty simple right? Confiscate everybody’s private planes and hey presto, no more global warming. Unfortunately, this is not quite the case. Although banning private planes would help the Earth drastically, wealthy people have more than one toxic trick up their sleeve. If it isn’t planes, it’s boats and mansions and cars and technology and all other things superficial.
All of this is to say that, while the lavish lifestyle of rich people is appealing on a surface level, the deeper picture is not so pretty. Modern society has trained us to believe that the ‘jet-set’ lifestyle is something to aspire to, not decry, but by taking a step back and realising that wealthy people are overtly destroying our planet, perhaps we can alter our global perspective on rich people.