Pro Environment Politicians + Private Jets =?

Question

When asked the question "how many of you took private or charter jets to the debate tonight" (paraphrasing)...I believe all but one candidate slowly and sheepishly raised their hands.

Mr. Mike Gravel alone spoke up and said that he took...

A TRAIN.

Sure, he was frightfully angry for the whole debate, and hardly asked any questions, but you have to give the man some credit for acknowleging the incredible s**y that is the train.

So I guess the question is, does being a high powered political leader with a busy schedual make private jets ok, or should they take a little extra time and lead by example? What do you think is an appropriate tradeoff between time efficiency and environmental stewardship, especially coming from people who claim to want to lead us in the right direction?

Answer 1

Lots of pollution.

Answer 2

I firmly believe that politicians really OUGHT to lead by example.

If they are too busy to take the transportation of the proletariat, they are too busy and out of touch with their constituency, hence their decisions and words are suspect.

I do not have much time for a politician who will not live like those he has charge over.  In all respects.

I think it should be law that a politician should  HAVE to live and get his work done on nothing but the average income of those in his constituency.  And no gerrymandering!!

Then he can know the effects of his decisions on real people, including himself and his family!

I think we will get lots better laws when you pay the politicians that way

Answer 3

on the surface this is hypocrisy, and far be from me to defend the likes of Hilary Clinton, but when we dig deeper we do find security concerns, and not just for the candidates, but for the public at large as well. if Mrs Clinton or Mr Obama were to indeed fly commercially, the numbers of people at the airports would be huge. the safety concerns alone would be nightmarish. that said however, those who espouse the "green" lifestyle should be held to the "green" standard, and not by buying carbon credits from companies that they own. people like Ed Bagley who indeed practice what they preach, and use electric, or hybrid cars, and solar power, and other "green" energy sources have my respect.

Answer 4

in my opinion this is flat out hypocrisy and i think if the politicians want people to vote for them than the need to step up to the plate and face up to the fact more and more people every day are becoming more environmentally aware and the politicians need a big reality check now I'm only 15 and I'm not a lowed to vote yet but wen i am I'm not voting for hypocrites

Answer 5

Of course it would be better if they all took public transportation but many of them are recognizable and would be bombarded with fans, critics, and the press.

Mike Gravel does not have much money for his campaign so he economizes by taking public transport. By the way, he also took a bus to the debate after he got off the train.

Since Hillary used to be the First Lady, I think she is given protection by the secret service. Actually, the secret service just assigned a team to Barack Obama also because of his popularity. The secret service strongly advises its "clients" to take secure methods of transport.

Some of them tries to dodge the question on a technicality: the host, Anderson Cooper said 'tonight' and some of them arrived in a private jet the night before.

An ironic example of politician waste is that a few years ago, President Bush took his not-so-fuel efficient private plane on Earth Day all the way to California to do a photo op.

I think they should lead by example.

Senator Chris Dodd is another presidential candidate who actually does lead by example. His family has two hybrid cars and he said he switched to fuel efficient light bulbs.

Answer 6

they are all a bunch of liars inmy opnion, except kevin rudd, hes ok.

Answer 7

Its hypocritical and all, but I think its us thats in denial - we say "look, the politicians are wasteful, lets be wasteful too!" Politicians should lead by example, but we shouldn't need their example to motivate us to be less wasteful in our own lives.

Answer 8

There is no excuse . Gore is using this global warming thing to robe from the poor and I will not join you.

Answer 9

Politicians are the last ones that should be traveling by private jet.

Politicians should experience the inconveniences that the rest of us have to experience so they do not get so out of touch with the rest of us.

A politicians time is not so valuable that they cannot take public transportation rather than private transportation.