Energy sobriety and private jets: sensitive issue for the government
The private jet belonging to PSG striker Neymar, in Boa Vista, Brazil, on June 21, 2022. © Nilzete Franco / AFP
Text by: Valérie Gas Follow
1 min
Private jets of billionaires are in the crosshairs of politicians.
Applications have made it possible to track the trips made this summer, in particular by wealthy businessmen, denounced for their poor carbon footprint.
The boss of Europe Ecology - the Greens (EELV), Julien Bayou, put his foot in the dish by announcing that he was going to table a bill to "
ban
" these private jets.
Just before the start of the school year that President Emmanuel Macron had placed under the sign of "
sobriety
", the subject is sensitive for the government.
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Should
private jets be
banned ?
The new Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, does not go that far.
But
questioned by
Le Parisien
about the initiative announced by
Julien Bayou on Friday August 19
, he declared that it was necessary to “
regulate private jets
”.
It's time to ban private jets.
This is the measure that penalizes the fewest people for the greatest and most immediate climate impact.
It is a matter of justice.
How to ask the population to make efforts, if the richest are exempt from everything?
⤵️ pic.twitter.com/co4L50Aejd
— Julien Bayou (@julienbayou) August 20, 2022
There is no question of letting environmentalists find the government at fault on such a sensitive subject, when the president himself had invited the French to “
sobriety
”
in his July 14 interview
.
In question, with the war in Ukraine, the energy supply raises questions and climate change disrupts the environment, as demonstrated by the bad weather, fires and violent storms this summer.
The “
symbol of a two-speed effort
”
Travel by private jets for the richest would risk appearing as the “
symbol of a two-speed effort
” for French
people forced to tighten their belts
, explains Clément Beaune.
The minister therefore defuses the attacks before the start of the school year by promising to put the file on the government's table when the sobriety plan announced by Emmanuel Macron is examined.
When purchasing power and the environment meet through
private jets
, for the executive it is a danger.
► Also to listen:
Private jet travel is exploding with the coronavirus
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