Energy

Obama’s Arctic Jaunt Will Emit More CO2 Than 33 Cars

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Michael Bastasch DCNF Managing Editor
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President Barack Obama has announced he will be traveling to Alaska at the end of the month to visit the Arctic and other parts of the state which he claims is being ravaged by global warming.

Ironically, his trip to Alaska will only emit 161 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the very gas he blames for global warming. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions of driving 33 cars and the annual electricity use for 22 homes.

Obama would have to burn 173,000 pounds of coal to emit the same amount of CO2 as a one-way trip to Alaska would emit, according to EPA data.

Obama’s visit to the Arctic comes amid this administration’s push to build support for an international agreement on global warming. The administration recently released its Clean Power Plan, which aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

“I’m going because Alaskans are on the frontlines of one of the greatest challenges we face this century: climate change,” Obama said in a video announcing his Alaskan visit. “In Alaska, glaciers are melting… the state’s God-given natural treasures are all at risk.”

But like his trip to the Everglades earlier this year, Obama may not want to draw too much attention to how he will be getting to Alaska. The president will be taking Air Force One, which uses jet fuel — a petroleum product that emits carbon dioxide when burned. That means Obama will be contributing massively on an individual scale

Obama will travel at least 3,361 miles from Washington, D.C., to Alaska’s Elmendorf Air Force Base (where Air Force One generally stops to refuel) on his transnational global warming tour. Air Force One will burn about 16,805 gallons of jet fuel, emitting 161 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

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