Energy

Rep. Kevin Hern Launches Ad Campaign Blasting Climate Change Hypocrites

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Varun Hukeri General Assignment & Analysis Reporter
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Republican Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern will launch an ad campaign this week slamming the hypocrisy of climate activists, celebrities and political figures who do not practice the same environmental actions they advocate for the rest of Americans.

“Americans are sick and tired of celebrities and billionaires telling us how to live our lives,” Hern told the Daily Caller. “I roll my eyes when I see environmental elitists tell middle America to get rid of our plastic straws and start driving tiny electric cars — these same so-called environmentalists travel on private jets, drive around in gas-guzzling Suburbans, and own giant yachts.”

The digital and social media ad campaign, called the “Friends of Fossil Fuels” award, includes a nomination process to identify climate change hypocrites who moralize about environmental issues yet contribute more to climate change than average Americans. (RELATED: Democrats Keep Getting Their Climate Change Doomsday Predictions Wrong)

“These energy hypocrites deserve to be held accountable for their double talk, which is why I’m creating the Friend of Fossil Fuels award. I hope to make this an annual celebration of the essential role fossil fuels play in our lives and communities,” Hern told the Daily Caller.

In recent years, the actions of prominent climate activists and other figures in the broader environmental movement have come under fire amid accusations of hypocrisy.

President Joe Biden’s special climate envoy John Kerry faced scrutiny after Fox News reported in February that he took a private jet to Iceland in 2019 to accept the Arctic Circle award for climate leadership. When questioned, Kerry said flying on a private jet was “the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world” to fight climate change. (RELATED: John Kerry Spotted Maskless On Flight In Violation Of Biden Mask Mandate)

Kerry and his family registered more than 20 hours in private jet flying time in 2019, equal to an estimated 116 tons of carbon emissions, Fox News reported.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in August 2019 sailed across the North Atlantic on a “zero-emissions yacht” to attend the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York. But according to one estimate, her voyage emitted four times more emissions than flying as her crew — along with the yacht — were flown back to Europe, Forbes reported.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle triggered outrage in August 2019 after promoting climate action on social media days before taking a private jet to Spain and then France. The BBC calculated that both flights together produced 19.8 tons of carbon emissions, more than three times the emissions of an average Briton.