The European Union permitted France to ban all domestic flights linked by train travel of less than two and a half hours. The decision by the EU was made yesterday, 12/2/2022. The ban will affect routes between Paris Orly, Nantes, Lyon, and Bordeaux, at least not yet. Other courses will be banned in the future, according to sources.
The wealthiest get to keep their private jets and travel with no restrictions. I know, what a stunning surprise.
From Euro News Green:
Transport minister Clément Beaune said the country could no longer tolerate the super rich using private planes while the public are making cutbacks to deal with the energy crisis and climate change.
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Private jets have been a source of outrage lately, as the city-hopping exploits of celebrities and billionaires come to light. A jet belonging to Steven Spielberg burned around €117,000 worth of fuel in the two months since June, according to flight tracking data.
A report from Transport and Environment (T&E), the European federation for clean transport, found that private jets are up to 14 times more polluting than commercial flights per passenger mile, and 50 times worse than trains.
Despite urgent calls from campaigners, France is unlikely to impose a total ban on jets.
Government spokesman Olivier Véran reaffirmed today that it is "obviously not a question of banning them", given their important role in the economy. But “the French should not have to feel as if it’s always the same people who are being asked to make efforts".
“We can understand that a Frenchman who is careful in his daily life is shocked by the fact that some of his fellow citizens can take a private jet to make flea jumps”, he told France Inter radio listeners this morning.
Heavy taxation and restrictions are the most likely measures to be introduced. Companies could also be forced to publish details on their use of corporate aircraft, for greater transparency.
France's parliament passed a wide-sweeping climate bill in 2021. The bill's proposals would ban "future airport expansions, prohibit open-air terrace heaters and reduce packaging waste." The French government requires public schools to have at least one meal per week that contains no meat or fish for meals. Grocery stores will be made to reduce wasteful packaging and plastic use. Landlords will be required to insulate their properties by 2025. And Reuters reports that "Meanwhile, the sale of cars emitting more than 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer will be banned from 2030, and a subsidy for electric bicycles is extended."
France aims to cut greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels but environmental activists say it is dragging its feet. In a landmark ruling in February, a court ruled France must do more to combat climate change.
The Washington Post wrote an article on private plane use a few months ago. For some reason, celebrities get a lot of slack in pieces I have read. I haven't seen any reason other than wealth equals power, even in the face of an apocalyptic climate breakdown. The public shame them for not changing their ways, but the wealthy only get defensive.
The analysis of flight data, which was published online Friday by a U.K.-based sustainability marketing agency Yard, came on the heels of other celebrities such as Kylie Jenner and Drake weathering intense public criticism after it was revealed that their emissions-spewing private jets logged trips as short as 17 minutes and 14 minutes, respectively.
Taylor Swift’s plane was identified by the report as the “biggest celebrity CO2e polluter this year so far,” racking up 170 flights since January with emissions totaling more than 8,293 metric tons. A plane affiliated with boxer Floyd Mayweather came in second, emitting about 7,076 metric tons of CO2, with one logged trip only lasting 10 minutes.
Jay-Z, who could not be reached for comment, was listed third. After publication, a lawyer for Jay-Z told The Washington Post the rapper does not own the private jet in question; Rolling Stone reported that the flight data used in the analysis is from a plane tied to Puma and attributed to Jay-Z for his relationship with the brand.
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“A short jump with a private jet requires lofting into the air a 10- to 20-ton jet and then moving it from point A to point B,” said Peter DeCarlo, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University who studies atmospheric air pollution. “I know no one likes being stuck in traffic, but you’re not launching your car into the air. … The act of taking a huge piece of metal and putting it up into the sky is going to be an enormous carbon footprint that’s really not necessary, especially for these kinds of short distances.”
This reporting is good news but not great news. It is a great start, however, because, with every tenth-degree reduction of temperature rise, we prevent reduces catastrophic damage.
Republicans in the US are why we can't have nice things too. God, how I loathe them.
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James Brown’s praise of trains just a few decades ago.
