John Kerry’s gas-guzzling family jet has taken 16 trips this year alone
The gas-guzzling private jet owned by climate czar John Kerry’s family has already taken 16 flights this year alone, online records show.
Flight Aware data indicates the most recent flight on Kerry’s family jet was on Wednesday when it traveled from Idaho’s Friedman Memorial Airport to Boston.
Trips were also made earlier this week between Idaho and California.
Kerry and his wife Teresa have vacationed in Idaho’s Sun Valley for decades, local media reports say.
Earlier records, obtained by Fox News, also show the jet has flown multiple times within Massachusetts since January, including to Martha’s Vineyard and Boston.
Two trips were between Massachusetts and New Jersey.
It is the same plane linked to the Flying Squirrel LLC charter company that Kerry listed as one of his assets in financial disclosures when he was secretary of state.
It is not immediately clear who charted the plane on any of the 16 flights this year.
A State Department spokesperson said Kerry — who is Biden’s climate envoy and is tasked with trying to lower greenhouse gas emissions — wasn’t on any of the flights this year.
“Secretary Kerry travels commercially or via military air in his role as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate,” the spokesperson said.
The State Department would not comment on whether Kerry or his wife financially benefit from Flying Squirrel LLC.
Kerry has faced intense scrutiny in the past for defending his use of a private jet while preaching to the nation and the world about reducing emissions.
After he was criticized for taking the jet to receive a climate award in Iceland in 2019, Kerry said: “If you offset your carbon, it’s the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle.”
He added, at the time, that he didn’t have time to sail the seas but did not address the fact he had the option of flying commercial airlines that transport hundreds of passengers at a time.
“I believe the time it takes to get me somewhere, I can’t sail across the ocean. I have to fly to meet with people and get things done,” Kerry said.
“But what I’m doing, almost full time, is working to win the battle of climate change and in the end if I offset and contribute my life to do this, I’m not going to be put on the defensive.”
Private jets have been estimated to emit upward of 40 times as much carbon per passenger as commercial flights.
