‘Green’ Antoinettes Preaching Austerity From Private Jets – Watts Up With That?

By Vijay Jayaraj

Politicians, celebrities and billionaires who lecture about carbon footprints operate by a separate set of rules. Living in ostentatious opulence, they exude spectacular hypocrisy that is rarely challenged by media outlets amplifying their climate warnings.

Even scientists fly thousands of miles to United Nations climate conferences, adding to emissions of greenhouse gases they claim are destroying the Earth. This is two-tiered climate morality where those with power indulge in luxuries while ordinary folks are asked to sacrifice living standards. Preaching austerity from a private jet has become the “let-them-eat-cake” of our age.

The question is not whether the hypocrisy is real, but why it is so openly tolerated? Perhaps because so many people have found ways to profit through “green” subsidies and grift.

Yard Digital’s published data (for 2022) reports high-profile figures like Taylor Swift and Leonardo DiCaprio emitting 3,000 to 4,400 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) annually from jet-setting alone – hundreds or thousands of times the average citizen’s output.

For perspective, compare this with CO₂ emissions from countries like Bangladesh (0.71 tons per capita), Ghana (0.74 tons), Ethiopia (0.14 tons) and Kenya (0.38 tons). A single year of indulgence by an American icon outweighs the lifetime footprint of entire villages in developing nations.

Consider filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who chastised those he labels “climate deniers,” suggesting a moral failing on the part of anyone who questions the legitimacy of climate alarm. “Everybody has to be held responsible for their role in climate change,” he declared, seemingly oblivious to a personal lifestyle that creates a carbon footprint equivalent to nearly 280 average Americans or more than 2,200 typical Indians.

DiCaprio has built a global brand around climate activism. Yet, he famously flew on a private jet from Europe to New York to accept an environmental award, a trip that likely produced more emissions than most of us will in a year.

If hypocrisy among celebrities is glaring, the behavior of politicians is worse. Records show that Bernie Sanders’ campaign committee spent over $221,000 on private jets in just the first quarter of the year, despite Sanders voting for legislation that punishes fossil fuel use and even suggesting criminal penalties for energy executives.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “fighting oligarchy” tour, meant to challenge wealth and privilege, has been marked by her own carbon-intensive travel. While AOC has toned down her jet-setting in response to criticism – opting for first-class flights instead of private jets – her emissions still far exceed those of her constituents.

United Nations climate conferences are often in far-flung locations like Dubai, Glasgow or Sharm el-Sheikh. Each transcontinental flight emits up to 2 tons of CO₂ per person. For a single conference, a scientist’s travel emissions can rival a year’s worth of a developing nation’s citizen. Yet these scientists push for restrictions on energy use in poorer countries necessary to combat climate change.

The behavior of the climate priesthood is justified by the members’ “good intentions” or the “philanthropic” aspects of the crusade.

While annoying, the hypocrisy is of less concern than the real-world impact of the policies these Marie Antoinettes promote.

The push for “net-zero emissions” – an absurd objective that isn’t even possible – has negative consequences for families and businesses forced to pay higher prices for gasoline, electricity and food and to suffer restrictions on freedom to travel and on purchases of consumer goods.

Jet-setters are not leading a transition to a new energy future but rather building a world where their privileges are protected while those of lesser position must bear whatever loss necessary for the “greater good.”

Although the march to this global energy oligarchy has hit some bumps with the rise of Trump and other skeptics of the “green” vision, the climatic obsessed still hold to their pretenses. Arnold Schwarzenegger aligning with the Vatican to “terminate” global warming is a recent example.

Nonetheless, we expect electoral guillotines will prevail ultimately as more voters see through the 21^st century’s version of aristocratic corruption. Off with their subsidies!

This commentary was first published by The Blaze on October 10, 2025.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO₂ Coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in engineering from Anna University, India.