Last week, a report from sustainability-driven marketing agency Yard named Taylor Swift the worst celebrity private-jet polluter of the year so far, alleging that her jet has taken 170 flights since January. In defending herself, Swift tried a similar tactic as Drake, arguing that she wasn’t even on the plane most of the time. Her spokesperson told TMZ her jet is “loaned out regularly to other individuals” and that to “attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”
It’s debatable whether this makes it any better. No matter who is riding on a private jet, they’re still terrible for the environment: Because they carry so few passengers, PJs are 5 to 14 times more polluting per person than commercial planes (which already spew emissions at unconscionable rates). And, judging from new photos, Taylor has spent at least some time on her private jet recently — even if she has the good sense not to flaunt it. Photos obtained by the Daily Mail show Swift landing at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles in early July, apparently returning from a trip to London to see boyfriend Joe Alwyn. As you can see, she clearly took great pains not to be spotted. In fairness, the photos were taken weeks before Yard’s report. Hiding behind umbrellas is also par for the course for Swift, whose creative paparazzi-avoidance methods include walking sideways and leaving restaurants shielded by tablecloths. (Let’s not forget the time the internet thought she was carried out of her Tribeca apartment in a suitcase, the greatest conspiracy theory of 2017).
Anyways, according to Yard’s report, in just 200 days, Swift’s jet has reportedly emitted over 1,000 times more carbon than the average person’s yearly carbon footprint. I’d probably want to hide my face in shame too.
