Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has spent more than $500,000 on private jets in less than two years despite her repeated statements about climate change being an “existential” threat.” She has also repeatedly argued that the U.S. has a “moral” obligation to address climate change.
Pelosi spent $500,000 on private jets
Citing campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission, Fox News reports that the campaign to reelect Pelosi paid two payments amounting to more than $500,000 between October 2020 and December 2021. The campaign reportedly paid more than $437,000 to Advanced Aviation team, a private aviation provider in Virginia, and Clay Lacy Aviation, a provider of private jets in California.
Fox News points out that private jets are widely known to take a significant toll on the global environment, as they produce far more emissions per passenger than commercial flights. It added that Pelosi’s campaign spent more than $67,000 on private air travel mere months before she described dealing with climate change as “a religious thing.”
The House Speaker made that statement in November after she led the congressional delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland. According to Pelosi, she believes the world is “God’s creation, and we have a moral obligation to be good stewards.”
Climate change is “a religious thing”
Pelosi was heavily criticized in September following her claims that it was more important to discuss climate change with China than its plethora of human rights abuses. She added that China is “a leading emitter in the world” and that “climate is an overriding issue.”
Pelosi isn’t the only lawmaker to push strongly for climate change despite significant contributions to the problem. President Joe Biden’s campaign spent more than $15 million on private air travel in 202 while he was touting his promise to make climate change one of his chief priorities during his time in office.
Additionally, Biden’s climate chief, John Kerry, traveled to Iceland in 2019 in a private jet to receive the Artic Circle award for climate leadership.
