Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is one of the Biden administration’s more visible advocates for a transition away from fossil fuels and toward green energy.
But a report from Fox News is revealing he has taken at least 18 flights on private jets while calling for lowering carbon emissions.
“Buttigieg has traveled across the country — visiting Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire, among other states — and out of the country using a private jet fleet managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),” the network reported.
Fox News listed several examples of Buttigieg flying on private jets for official business. But one trip was for a ceremony hosted by a Canadian gay rights organization where he was given an award for his “contributions to the advancement of LGBTQ rights.”
Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of the watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT), told Fox, “Everyday Americans face flight [cancellations] and long wait times because Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has completely mismanaged air travel.”
“Yet, he gets to avoid all that by taking taxpayer-funded private jets to destinations with readily available commercial airline options,” she continued. “And for someone so holier-than-thou on reducing emissions, Buttigieg sure doesn’t seem to mind the pollution caused by his literal jet-setting.”
The exact cost of Buttigieg’s flights is not known. However, Fox reports the Federal Aviation Administration has charged agencies about $5,000 per hour to use its planes.
To be fair to the Transportation secretary, he is certainly not the first federal government official to fly on private jets instead of commercial airlines. Members of former President Donald Trump’s Cabinet also came under fire for their use of private jets.
And also to be fair to Buttigieg, Fox notes federal law does require that “official travel be done using the most expeditious means of transportation ‘practicable’ and ‘commensurate with the nature and purpose’ of said official’s duties.”
There is one simple counter-point to this: Zoom and Skype exist. Perhaps he does not need to take so many flights.
It is also worth remembering what Buttigieg said about higher gas prices earlier this year during a hearing on Capitol Hill.
“The more pain we are all experiencing from the high price of gas, the more benefit there is for those who can access electric vehicles,” he declared in July.
Watch the video below:
Pete Buttigieg: “The more pain we are all experiencing from the high price of gas, the more benefit there is for those who can access electric vehicles”pic.twitter.com/Ls52NHYfuO
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 19, 2022
So according to him, higher gas prices are good because they can incentivize Americans to buy electric vehicles and thus help facilitate the transition away from fossil fuels.
While he has been urging Americans to switch to electric vehicles and cut down on their carbon emissions, he has apparently not been following what he has been preaching.
If Buttigieg and other administration officials want to facilitate a transition away from fossil fuels and toward green energy, they should be leading the way and modeling behavior for Americans to follow.