I sent an Action Alert to Senator Stabenow and all I got back was empty rhetoric on the issue of Climate Justice and taxing Private Jet users

In May, GRIID posted an article about the Billionaire class, their use of private jets and the impact it is having on Climate Change. The article included information about the DeVos/Amway private jets, which are numerous.

The Institute for Policy Studies had released a new study entitled, High Flyers 2023: How the Ultra-Rich Private Jet travel costs the rest of us and burns up the planet. Here are some of the major findings in that report:

• Private jets emit at least 10 times more pollutants than commercial planes per passenger.
• Thousands of municipal airports in the U.S. are funded by the public, but many primarily serve private and corporate jets.
• Since the start of the pandemic, private jet use has increased by about a fifth and private jet emissions have increased more than 23 percent, according to a recent study.

Last week, the Institute for Policy Studies were inviting people to send an Action Alert to members of Congress, specifically to the people who represent Michigan. The Action Alert stated:

This month, Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced legislation that would raise the tax on private jet fuel, generating $1.3 billion a year to fund sustainable transit for the rest of us. Ask your representatives to sign on to sponsor this legislation. Click ‘START WRITING’ to send a direct message to your representatives now. We provide a message you can customize, and we’ll deliver it once you’re done! You can also read more about the bill here.

I signed the Action Alert on July 20th, and then received a response from Senator Stabenow on July 21st. Here is Senator Stabenow’s response: 

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for policies that advance clean energy, promote conservation, and address the climate crisis. I share your commitment to protecting our environment, and I am grateful for your strong advocacy. 

The science is clear: Global climate change poses a real threat to Michigan and our world. That’s why I proudly supported the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), the strongest federal climate legislation in U.S. history. This historic legislation puts the country on track to reduce emissions by about 40% over the next 8 years. Paired with funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), this legislation will lower energy costs, create good-paying jobs, and invest in our nation’s most vulnerable communities. 

As a member of the Senate Finance and Environment and Public Works Committees, I have authored legislation to bring clean-energy vehicles to market, spur investments in renewable energy sources, and ensure our nation leads in clean energy technology manufacturing. I remain laser-focused on advancing these policies, and will continue to lead efforts to eliminate taxpayer subsidies for the oil and gas industry. 

You can count on me to keep fighting for climate policies that combat harmful emissions, create good-paying American jobs, and ensure an equitable transition to a clean economy.

While the response from Senator Stabenow affirms my stance and has all the right rhetoric, she never acknowledges, nor commits to supporting the “FATCAT Act” (standing for Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax), which would hike fuel taxes on private jets from the current 22 cents a gallon to $1.95 per gallon. This would effectively increase the cost to $200 per metric ton of private jet CO2 emissions. 

Senator Stabenow is term limited, so she has nothing to lose by supporting legislation that would tax the Billionaire Class that has their own private jets. Instead she spends most of her Email response by telling me what she has done, which has nothing to do with the Action Alert I sent her. I shouldn’t be surprised, since the response I received was probably a pre-written response to people writing about Climate Change issues. Reason number 57 for why I don’t put my faith in electoral politics.