Twelve billionaires’ climate emissions outpollute 2.1m homes, analysis finds

Lee Duna@lemmy.nz to News@lemmy.world – 589 points –
Twelve billionaires’ climate emissions outpollute 2.1m homes, analysis finds
theguardian.com
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Billionaires generate obscene amounts of carbon pollution with their yachts and private jets – but this is dwarfed by the pollution caused by their investments,” said Oxfam International’s inequality policy adviser Alex Maitland.

The problem isn't the yachts or private jets, or who owns them.

The problem identified in the article is that Exxon and BP sell a shitload of fossil fuels, and Bill Gates owns over a billion dollars of shares in fossil fuel companies like BP. The private jets are a red herring, regardless of who owns them.

The problem isn't the yachts or private jets, or who owns them.

Wrong. Who owns the fossil fuel companies, investments, private jets and yachts?

Billionaires should not exist.

Which is a bigger problem, emissions-wise:

  1. The private jets of all 12 billionaires on that list

Or

  1. China National Petroleum Corporation

Is that what the article is about? Should we consider methane from cows? Solar cycles? Reel it back in homie.

The article basically amounts to "12 billionaires own a bunch of gas company stock".

My point is that

  1. The article is pulling a fast one to make it sound like the private jets and yachts are the problem if you don't actually read the article carefully.

And

  1. The solution to the problem of emissions from oil sold by oil companies is the same regardless of if the oil company owned by a billionaire, the Saudi king, a communist government or if they're a worker owned co-op. It's the same if it's 1 big company, or 100 smaller oil companies. The problem is pumping and burning oil, not who profits from it.

Billionaires are a problem, but they're not really the problem here. If you threw these 12 billionaires into a gulag tomorrow and sold their yachts and private jets as scrap, the emissions identified here would be barely impacted.

Because, again, the article is dressing up the problem of oil companies as being the problem with billionaires.

The problem is, and always will be, until tossed into the dust bin of history- Capitalism.