Former President Barack Obama arrived Monday by private jet to a climate change conference in Italy.
Obama traveled to Milan, Italy to discuss U.S. environmental policies at a sold-out climate change conference in Milan. He stayed at a snazzy, $20,000-a-night Tuscan villa during the two-day trip, which culminated with a high-profile meeting with former Italian President Matteo Renzi.
He arrived Monday in a jet flanked by an entourage that reportedly took over two floors of the expensive Park Hyatt hotel — rooms in the luxury hotel typically cost about $10,000 a night, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
Obama defended the Paris Agreement during the Seeds & Chips conference and said that the US must show leadership and not “sit on the sidelines.” His comments were a veiled shot at the Trump administration, which has yet to determine whether to ditch the climate deal.
“During the course of my presidency, I made climate change a top priority because I believe that of all the challenges that we face, this is the one that will define the contours of this century, more dramatically perhaps than any other,” Obama said at the summit.
He also claimed his policies had helped the U.S. make the slow transition from fossil-fuel energy production to wind and solar power.
It is not yet known what jet model Obama used during his trip, but Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the former president’s biggest Hollywood supporters, saw his carbon footprint increase dramatically after making a similar trip last year.
The Hollywood actor and longtime environmental activist flew 8,000 miles from Cannes, France to New York City to secure an award from a clean-water advocacy group at the Riverkeeper Fishermen’s Ball. DiCaprio then flew back to France a day later to attend an AIDS benefit gala.
All told, “The Revenant” actor burned more than 17,000 gallons of jet fuel during the trip, which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator, equals approximately 169,400 lbs. of coal burned, or about 90 tons of coal.
TheDCNF’s calculations were based on the Gulfstream IV, a jet DiCaprio often uses when gallivanting across the world. The calculations give a basic understanding of the sheer amount of carbon emissions are spewed into the air when wealthy activists gallivant around the world.
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