Trump-hating singer and songwriter Taylor Swift issued a response to criticism when it was revealed that her jet had the worst carbon dioxide emissions of any private jet on the list.
In a recent report that was published by Yard, a digital marketing agency, they compiled a list of the celebrities whose private jets are the worst offenders in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions they produce.
“After Kylie Jenner posted this Instagram of her and beau, Travis Scott’s private jets captioned: “you wanna take mine or yours?” the internet went crazy and many people took to social media platforms to share their feelings on Kylie’s private jet fiasco,” Yard wrote in its website.
The agency decided to take a deep dive into celebrities’ flights.
Climate advocate Taylor Swift landed herself in the top spot, beating out competitors such as Jay-Z, Floyd Mayweather, and Oprah Winfrey. Her plane is said to have racked up a total of 170 flights since January, putting her ahead of the competition.
Below is the full breakdown of the top 10 celebrity CO2e offenders:
1. Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift might be today’s pop princess, but Yard’s research found that Miss Swift is the biggest celebrity CO2e polluter of this year so far. Racking up a total of 170 flights since January, Taylor’s jet has amassed a vast 22,923 minutes in the air – 15.9 days. Quite a large amount considering that she is not currently touring.
Taylor’s jet has an average flight time of just 80 minutes and an average of 139.36 miles per flight. Her total flight emissions for the year come in at 8,293.54 tonnes, or 1,184.8 times more than the average person’s total annual emissions. Taylor’s shortest recorded flight of 2022 was just 36 minutes, flying from Missouri to Nashville.
2. Floyd Mayweather
Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather comes in closely behind Taylor, emitting 7,076.8 tonnes of CO2 from his private jet this year. That’s 1,011 times more than the average person’s yearly.
However, Mayweather’s jet has amassed more flights than any other celebrity on this list, taking 177 so far this year – an average of 25 flights per month: almost one every single day!
The shortest flight recorded by Mayweather was just 10 minutes, landing in Las Vegas and emitting 1 ton of CO2.
3. Jay-Z
Third on the list is rapper and husband of Beyonce, Jay-Z. Yard’s research found that so far this year, Jay-Z’s private jet has taken 136 flights, emitting 6,981.3 tonnes of CO2. That’s 997.3 times more than the average person’s yearly emissions.
Like Taylor, Jay-Z is not currently on tour and his average flight time is just over an hour at 67 minutes. So far in 2022, his jet has clocked up 19,296 minutes in flight time – 13.4 days. Flights include a 35-minute journey from New Jersey to Boston and a 29-minute flight from North Carolina to Ohio.
4. A-Rod
J-Lo’s ex-fiance and baseball player, A-Rod, has quite a jet-set lifestyle. The data reveals A-Rod to be the fourth biggest CO2e flight offender, racking up 5,342.7 tonnes of CO2 from his private jet so far this year – 763.24 times more emissions than the average person produces in a year.
Like the other celebs, A-Rod’s jet is guilty of some short flights, with his shortest coming in at just 34 minutes.
Since January, A-Rod’s jet has taken 106 flights, spending an average of just 80 minutes in the air.
5. Blake Shelton
American country music singer and husband of Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, has taken a whopping 111 flights on his private jet this year with 12,424 minutes spent in the air – or 8.6 days.
Like many of his fellow private jetters, Blake’s jet has an average flight time of just over an hour, at 64.37 minutes. So far, Blake’s jet has emitted 4495 tonnes of CO2, 642 times more than what the average person produces in an entire year.
Shortest flights include a 38-minute journey from Texas to Oklahoma and a 27-minute flight from Van Nuys Airport in LA, California, to San Diego Airport, also in California.
6. Steven Spielberg
Legendary film director Steven Spielberg is sixth on the list, with his jet taking 61 flights this year and emitting 4,465 tonnes of CO2 – 637.9 times more than the average person’s annual emissions. Spielberg, however, has the second-longest average flight time on this list, coming in at 107.31 minutes, or about an hour and 47 minutes.
The total time his private jet has spent flying this year is 12,341 minutes: 8.57 days. Shortest flights include a 25-minute journey from Francis S. Gabreski Airport in New York state to New Jersey and an 18-minute flight from Amsterdam to Rotterdam: a 48.5-mile trip.
7. Kim Kardashian
Like her sister Kylie, Kim K is no stranger to sharing her private jet with her 326M followers on Instagram. She often shares snaps of inside and outside the aircraft when she uses it, most recently sharing this snap of the jet from her daughter North West’s birthday party.
So far this year, Kim’s jet emitted 4268.5 tonnes of carbon emissions over 57 flights: 609.8 times more than the average person emits in a year. Kim’s jet has an average flight time of 85.49 minutes, for an average journey length of 99.78 miles.
Her shortest journeys include a 38-minute flight to Palm Spring, emitting 3 tonnes of CO2, and a 23-minute flight from San Diego, California, to Camarillo, also California.
8. Mark Wahlberg
Next on the list is actor Mark Wahlberg who has emitted 3772.85 tonnes of CO2 emissions over 101 flights so far in 2022 – that’s 538.9 times more than the average person’s yearly. The total flight time of Mark’s jet comes in at 10,428 minutes, or 7.2 days in the air. His average flight time is the longest on this list, yet is still just 117.45 minutes, averaging about 87.47 miles per flight.
Mark’s shortest flights include a 29-minute journey from Van Nuys, California, to Palm Springs, also California and a 46-minute flight landing in London, causing 4 tonnes of CO2e.
9. Oprah Winfrey
Multi-billionaire television host Oprah Winfrey has emitted an estimated 3,493.17 tonnes of CO2 from her use of her private jet this year through a total of 68 flights – 499 times more than the average person’s total annual emissions.
Winfrey’s $75 million private jet travels for an average of 81.13 minutes at a time with an averagejourney length of 101.26 miles. Shortest flights include a 14-minute flight from Van Nuys, California to Santa Barbara, also California and a 16-minute flight causing 1 tonne of CO2e.
10. Travis Scott
Whilst Kylie Jenner’s average flight time might be just 24.5 minutes, Yard’s research found that she doesn’t make the top 10 of celebrity emitters. However, her beau, Travis Scott does, racking up 3033.3 tonnes of CO2e just this year, with an average flight journey of just 7.31 miles – the shortest average in the top 10.
Travis’ jet has a total flight time of 8,384 minutes, or 5.8 days, so far in 2022.
A representative for Taylor Swift said that the singer was not personally responsible for all of the flights after she was criticized for leading the list with the greatest carbon emissions.
“Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” her spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”
One Buzzfeed reader noted that it is pointless whether or not Taylor was physically present throughout the flights.
“I don’t care who’s on the plane, it shouldn’t be making all those flights and producing all those emissions,” one person said in response. “If you own it, you’re responsible for it. They should all be flying commercial (and flying less),” the reader wrote.
Newsweek reported, “Swift’s lyrics frequently reference nature, and she has been a public advocate for a number of environmental causes, including global clean water access and protecting endangered wildlife. She also called climate change one of the “horrific situations” plaguing the world in a 2020 interview with Variety.”
