House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has for 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 for travel services on 10 trips between October 2020 and December 2021, according to Federal Election Commission filings obtained by Fox News.
In January last year, the Pelosi team also paid California-based Clay Lacy Aviation $65,457.23, taking the campaign's total private jet expenses to $489,164.85. Last August, Pelosi paid Advanced Aviation $67,604.93.
'This is God's Creation'
In November, the House speaker led a Congressional delegation to the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, where Pelosi emphasized the moral imperative to combat climate change.
Pelosi said limiting the severity of climate change is "a moral obligation for us to hand this planet over to the next generation in a responsible way."
"For me, it's a religious thing: I believe this is God's creation, and we have a moral obligation to be good stewards," said Pelosi at the time.
'Worst Thing You Can Do For the Environment'
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 drew criticism last September after she said U.S. must work with China to combat climate change despite Beijing's human rights abuses, including the Uyghur genocide, and its aggressive military stances towards Hong Kong and Taiwan. "Climate is an overriding issue, and China is a leading emitter in the world," she said at the time.
Former Senator John Kerry has also come under fire for his use of a private jet while serving as the Biden administration's special envoy for climate. 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.
