Pete Bootiejudge Wants You to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, But Personally Takes Taxpayer-Provided Private Jets For His Many, Many Pointless Travel Opportunities

Pete Bootiejudge is using taxpayer funded private jets -- and filling the air with carbon dioxide ("The Invisible Killer") -- not to do anything about the environment, but to use deluxe government jets for traveling to meet supporters and donors in anticipation of his 2024 presidential bid.

This is an old scam; schedule some stupid, no-one-cares speech about the environment in San Francisco so that you can get government-paid travel to do what you really wanted to do in San Francisco, which is meeting with Silicon Valley billionaires and letting them know you're running in 2024 and would like their money. And their vote. But mostly their money.

We should all follow Pete Bootiejudge's example and "fight climate change" by taking as many unnecessary cross-country trips as possible using the most carbon-producing means of transport available.

EXCLUSIVE: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, an advocate of increased government action to curb carbon emissions, has taken at least 18 flights using taxpayer-funded private jets since taking office, Fox News Digital has learned.

Buttigieg has traveled across the country -- visiting Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire, among other states -- and out of the country using a private jet fleet managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to flight tracking data reviewed by Fox News Digital. The flight records align with Buttigieg's schedule of external and public engagements obtained by government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT).

The article notes that congressional Democrats investigated Trump officials' use of private air travel, and ripped them for it.

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"Everyday Americans face flight [cancellations] and long wait times because Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has completely mismanaged air travel," APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News Digital. "Yet, he gets to avoid all that by taking taxpayer-funded private jets to destinations with readily available commercial airline options."

"And for someone so holier-than-thou on reducing emissions, Buttigieg sure doesn't seem to mind the pollution caused by his literal jet-setting," she continued. "This is hypocrisy at its finest, and these troubling expenses to taxpayers must come under immediate scrutiny."

While the exact taxpayer cost of Buttigieg's flights is unclear, the FAA has charged federal agencies roughly $5,000 per hour to use its fleet, the Washington Post reported amid the congressional investigation into Trump officials' travel in 2017.

According to the flight data, Buttigieg used two taxpayer-funded Cessna 560XL private jets for trips in the 22 months since President Joe Biden selected him to lead the Department of Transportation (DOT). The FAA also operates a Gulfstream IV jet.

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In another example, Buttigieg used a private jet to fly to multiple states in August as a part of a tour highlighting grants authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. He jetted to Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada and New Hampshire during the trip titled "Building a Better America Tour."

Notice New Hampshire in there. He toured these states to tout his future presidential bid.

The states Buttigieg visited have largely been considered swing states in recent federal elections. When asked about his decision to travel to those particular states, he noted that Oklahoma isn't a swing state and said "there was a great story" to tell about the infrastructure grant he was promoting there, Politico reported.
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In addition, the transportation secretary has been a vocal proponent of climate action and has repeatedly warned of the dangers posed by human-caused global warming. He has particularly advocated for policies that would transition the U.S. economy to green energy and reduce fossil fuel emissions.

Private jet travel, though, is by far the most carbon intensive mode of transportation. Private jets are 10 times more carbon intensive than commercial planes and 50 times more carbon intensive than trains, according to a 2021 report from the group Transport & Environment.

"The climate crisis is here today, threatening Americans' lives and livelihoods, our homes and businesses, and even the way we travel and operate our federal agencies," Buttigieg said last year after his agency published its climate adaptation and resilience plan. "The good news is that we know what to do about it, and America is fully capable of rising to the occasion."

"While we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst outcomes of climate change, the U.S. Department of Transportation's plan will help ensure that our transportation infrastructure, policies and programs will be more resilient to the climate impacts already facing our country," he added.

posted by Ace at 02:03 PM

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