Buttigieg Explains Why He Flies Private Despite Climate Action Message: 'This is a Very Big Country'
By Nicholas Ballasy September 5, 2019
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Democratic presidential candidate, said he flies on private jets despite advocating for action on climate change because the U.S. is a "very big country."
CNN's Chris Cuomo told Buttigieg, "Your second-quarter filing says your campaign spent about $300,000 on private flying. You're going to get the finger shaken at you that you should not be doing that if you're going to be the green guy."
"Look, I'm interested in decarbonizing the fuel that goes into air travel. I also don't believe we're going to abolish air travel. This is a big country and while I absolutely think we can do more to provide alternatives, like trains, I don't think that we're going to solve the question on how to get around the world without air travel. This is the sort of thing that I think we need to look at in a commonsense kind of way," Buttigieg said at CNN's climate town hall on Wednesday.
"And the right loves to sink their teeth into anything we say that makes it seem we’re being unreasonable when actually all we’re saying is there’s got to be a way to make it less carbon-intensive. Sometimes -- I took the subway today. Sometimes I fly because this is a very big country and I’m running to be president of the whole country, but look, you know, it involves meeting voters everywhere," he added.
Buttigieg said the U.S. should do more to provide alternatives to air travel. more
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