The internet went into a rage in 2022 when news broke that Kylie Jenner has been using her private jet to take a 17-minute flight to get around traffic. Environmentalists were outraged because studies have proven that flying private emits significantly higher levels of CO2 than flying commercial does.
But Kylie is not the only offender, nor is she even the worst. Some billionaire moguls like Bill Gates were emitting over 2,000 tons of emissions with their travel habits, as were director Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, another billionaire, and the musician Drake. Those are just a few (dis)honorable mentions. One could probably write a book on the CO2 emissions of celebrities, for the sake of time, this list will just focus on 10. Please note that some carbon footprints listed here are measured in tons while others are measured in tonnes (also known as meteric tons in the U.S.).
9 Kylie Jenner
Jenner deserves to be mentioned because it was news of her 17-minute flight that broke the internet. A series of hot takes about her and her family's flight habits blew up on Twitter and TikTok when the story broke. Jenner is not the worst offender though. True, her 17-minute flight is an embarrassment, but she is not nearly as guilty as others. For example, her on again off again boyfriend Travis Scott emitted 3033.3 tonnes of CO2 in 2022. Even members of her own family have done far more damage to the Earth, like her elder sister Kim, who was also unfortunate enough to make this list.
8 Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian has been doing more damage than her younger sister. Kim K has flown on a private jet at least 56 times in 2022 alone, which, according to experts amounts to 4268.5 tonnes of carbon emissions. Kim K has been caught taking flights as short as 23 minutes. While the internet is furious with her sister, Kim K is lucky that more attention is being paid to Kylie's habits than hers, for now. This is not the first time Kim's flying habits have gotten her in trouble. Fans had some strong feelings about her choice of food when flying too.
7 Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton is up there with Kim Kardashian for the amount of pollution her flying habits are causing. The heiress's jets emitted 1,261 tons of carbon dioxide in 2019 alone. According to the New Zealand Herald and Swedish academics who studied her flying habits, she was one of the worst celebrity polluters of 2019 second only to Bill Gates, who beat her with 1629 tons.
6 Oprah Winfrey
Despite selling herself as a "conscious" billionaire, Oprah is doing some serious damage to the planet with her tendency to fly private. The former talk show host is guilty of emitting 3,493.17 tonnes of CO2 in 2022. Flight records show she is taking flights as short as 14 minutes, flying to and from places like Van Nuys and Santa Barbara.
5 Mark Wahlberg
The actor is not unfamiliar with controversy. In 1990 he was accused of being involved in hate crimes and has been arrested for assault on multiple occasions. But the physical damage he has done to a few people is almost as bad as the ecological damage he is doing that affects the whole planet. The Transformers actor spat out 3772.85 tonnes of CO2 emissions over 101 flights in 2022 with no signs that he was changing his habits.
4 Jennifer Lopez
The New Zealand Herald named Lopez one of the worst emitters up there with Gates and Hilton. In 2019, the singer and actress emitted 1,051 tons of CO2. While she did not make the Top 10 lists for 2022, like others on this list have, that 1,051 tons can never be taken back.
3 Jay-Z
Sources say that Jay-Z's carbon footprint in 2022 is 997.3 times more than the emission of the average person, which comes to around 15-16 tons. In 2022, the billionaire rapper emitted 6,981.3 tonnes of CO2 between 136-150 flights. Also, keep in mind, that the number is probably much larger when one considers that he and Beyoncé do not always travel together, meaning their combined footprint as a couple is probably significantly higher.
2 Floyd Mayweather
It should not come as a shock that Floyd Mayweather has such a large carbon footprint. The fighter is notorious for his wasteful spending habits, why would his other habits be any different? Mayweather's 2022 footprint comes to 7,076.8 tonnes of CO2 from his private jet this year. That’s 1,011 times more than the average person’s yearly. Mayweather's flight logs show he on average flies 25 times a month. No offense to Mayweather, but what is the point of having all those fancy cars if you're just going to fly everywhere?
1 Taylor Swift
Kylie Jenner might be the one whose flight habits broke the internet, but the singer and pop idol has her and almost all other stars beat. Swift's C02 total for 2022 alone comes to 8,293.54 tonnes, and she on average spends a whopping 22,923 minutes on her jet. This concerns environmentalists for several reasons, and this is an especially high number when one considers that Swift is not touring in 2022, meaning her CO2 emissions when touring are probably much higher.
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