A private jet may seem like a clear marker of wealth, but it is also a huge tax on the environment.
SFGate reported on a private 737 Max 8 with a black and taupe color scheme that was spotted in Medford, Oregon. Reddit users speculate that this plane may belong to billionaire brothers who made money from mixed martial arts.
According to Boeing’s website, the 737 Max 8 can have up to 210 seats. The climate footprint of flying an aircraft like this for a small, private group is immense.
A 2024 study published in Communications Earth & Environment sought to quantify the pollution attributed to private flights beyond the commercial airline industry. The study found that from 2019 to 2023, private flights increased by about 46%.
The most frequent private fliers can produce about 500 times more pollution than the average person does over the year, according to Yale Environment 360.
The heat-trapping pollution emitted from aviation contributes to the changing climate. In our climate situation, experts note that every tenth of a degree in global temperature rise matters. Private aviation pollutes disproportionately. For instance, private aviation contributed more to climate pollution than all flights departing from London’s Heathrow Airport in 2023.
To combat the pollution generated from aviation, many companies are working to make air travel more sustainable.
One type of technology is electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL). These aircraft use electricity to take off, hover, and land. Think of it like a hover car in a sci-fi movie. Companies like Vertical Aerospace in the United Kingdom or Lilium in Germany are designing prototypes of aircraft that can reduce our reliance on dirty energy and electrify air travel.
Hybrid battery-electric planes, like Heart Aerospace’s in Sweden, are also in development.
Until these technologies become widely available, private aviation will continue to add to our changing climate.
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Climate activists will also likely keep pressure on frequent private fliers, such as the black and taupe plane seen in Oregon.
“To my eye, that thing sticks out like a sore thumb,” one Redditor commented on a post about the plane. They also noted that they found it incredibly ugly.
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