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5 comments
Private jets greatly harm the environment and are an unnecessary form of travel.
It's not as simple as just banning private jets. The most realistic way to tackle the industry's impact on the environment is through increased taxation.
Flying private is unequivocally worse for the environment than flying commercially. Although private jets produce fewer carbon emissions than their commercial counterparts, [the carbon footprint of a private jet passenger is significantly higher] (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/private-jets-environment-carbon-footprint-climate-change-harry-meghan-markle-a9071391.html).
But is it as simple as just banning them? Modern globalisation means that travel is more important than ever. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, [the tourism industry is responsible for 10% of jobs worldwide. This is in addition to its contributions of some $8.8 trillion dollars to many local economies] (https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2019/08/22/private-jet-travel-is-greener-than-you-think/?sh=7b1395ab6745). Private air crafts make air travel significantly easier for those who can afford it.
Also, [there was a notable uptake in private jet travel during 2020] (https://www.elitetraveler.com/cars-jets-and-yachts/aviation/private-jet-trends-upwards-covid-19-pandemic). Because of COVID dangers, it proved a much safer and more flexible way of travelling. The reality is that this isn't an industry that's going to go away.
So what are our options, then? The most logical suggestion is that the aviation sector could expand its [use of green fuels] (https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/could-super-rich-super-polluters-private-jets-clean-aviation) and impose a tax on those who don't use them. We could also look forward to a provisional future in which we have other, cleaner means of powering private jets, and [aim to ban fossil-fuelled air-crafts by 2030] (https://www.transportenvironment.org/publications/private-jets-can-super-rich-supercharge-zero-emission-aviation).
The luxury of a private jet does not warrant the damage it does to our world.
In most cases Private Jets should be banned
While I do lean against this, I do think private jets should have to be held to much stricter environmental standards than public airplanes. Public airplanes are remarkably efficient in terms of emissions-per-person. Only passenger trains beat them, and they are largely impractical in the US for the distances covered by planes. Their efficiency comes almost entirely from the number of people they can carry.
A small handful of people in an airplane is extremely inefficient, and thus should have to be held to much more stringent standards. However, I don't think this is enough to necessitate the elimination of private planes altogether.
I wouldn't be overly opposed to such a bill, but I certainly wouldn't propose it myself.
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