With the US President still denying (or not understanding) Climate Science, we thought to take a look at some of the numbers of the Presidential Carbon Footprint.
To start off we will give you a number for the current estimate of the Average American’s Carbon Footprint: 16.5 tons of Carbon Dioxide.
This number is well above the Global Average of 4.8 tons. From the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, we all need to be under 2 tons by 2050 in order to stop Global Temperature rise to 2°C or less.
On to the President:
Travel was the largest contributor. We found 138 trips that used Air Force One, Marine One or the Presidential State Car. Some amazing points we learned:
- Air Force One travels with a decoy/alternate plane, 2 x Cargo planes carrying Marine One’s and the Presidential State Car, 4 x Boeing 767 for advanced security.
- Marine One flies in a group of up to 5 identical choppers
- Presidential State Car travels in a motorcade of 30 to 45 other vehicles
Plane Travel = 192.8 GWh
Chopper Travel = 2.1 GWh
Car Travel = 0.2 GWh
Total Travel = 195.1 GWh
The White House has a large carbon footprint compared to most residences but pales in comparison to the Presidents travel. With a White House that covers 55,000 sq.ft (650 sq.ft of Kitchen), we can estimate the energy used for 2018 at 1.4 GWh.
Whitehouse = 1.4 GWh
What about the Carbon Footprint from all of the purchases he makes? That one is a little harder to assess. We do know he has an affinity for fast food, entertains frequently, and has a large (quantity-wise) wardrobe. We assess this as being a lot higher than the average American.
Goods & Services = 15 MWh
This leaves us with the following Carbon Footprint for the President in 2018:
- 132,596 tons of Carbon Dioxide (remember the average we stated earlier)
- 155,996 acres of forest required for Carbon Sequestration
- The footprint of 7,246 US citizens
To be fair, all of his predecessors have also had a high carbon footprint. It does come with the territory. But what else have they done:
- Barack Obama: Upgraded the White House’s solar panels and focused heavily on climate change, instigating the Clean Power Plan. Rejected Keystone XL oil pipeline. Raised fuel-efficiency standards. Invested in green energy during the Great Recession. Created a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators (our personal favorite).
- George W. Bush: provided tax credits to businesses that use renewable energy sources, Instituted policies that helped reduce air pollution by 12 percent from 2001 to 2007. He unfortunately would not implement the Kyoto Protocol.
- Bill Clinton: established the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. Introduced the Greening of the White House initiative, a comprehensive energy and environmental upgrade that includes actions for landscaping, waste reduction, recycling, and water and energy efficiency.
- Donald Trump: …?
Does the issue of Climate Science still seem that hard to grasp?
