House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has shelled out nearly $500,000 for private flights since October 2020, despite her claims that the US has a “moral obligation” to address climate change.
The California Democrat’s campaign paid Virginia-based Advanced Aviation Team a total of $423,707.62 for travel services on 10 occasions between October 2020 and December 2021, according to Federal Election Commission filings first reported by Fox News.
In January last year, the Pelosi team also paid California-based Clay Lacy Aviation $65,457.23, bringing the campaign’s private jet expenses to a grand total of $489,164.85.
In August last year, Pelosi paid Advanced Aviation $67,604.93. Three months later, the House speaker led a contingent of Democratic lawmakers to the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, where Pelosi described tackling the climate crisis as a “religious thing.”
“I believe this is God’s creation, and we have a moral obligation to be good stewards,” she said at the time.
Private jets produce more carbon dioxide emissions than commercial airplanes per passenger, according to a June analysis by European group Transport & Environment.
“Flying on a private jet is probably the worst thing you can do for the environment,” T&E aviation director Andrew Murphy said in the report. “And yet, super-rich super polluters are flying around like there’s no climate crisis.”
Pelosi came under fire last September after she said working with China on climate change should take precedence over Beijing’s human rights abuses and its aggressive military stances toward Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Climate is an overriding issue, and China is a leading emitter in the world,” she said at the time.
Former Sen. John Kerry has also been criticized for his use of a private jet while serving as the Biden administration’s climate czar.
In 2019, Kerry defended traveling to Iceland by private jet to pick up a climate change leadership award.
“If you offset your carbon, it’s the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle,” Kerry said in an interview with local outlet RUV, which was unearthed by Fox News last year.
Pelosi’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment by Fox News.
