ENTERTAINMENT
Taylor Swift asked to stop “absurd” private jet use
Swift has been criticised for her use of private jets, which contribute heavily to global warming: “She has a young audience, she should be leading”.
Taylor Swift has been urged by UK TV presenter Chris Packham to rethink her use of private jets as she carries on her ‘Eras Tour’.
The ‘Fortnight’ singer is currently embarking on a world tour which has seen her grace locations across the United States and now Europe, where she is hopping from city to city in her personal private aircraft.
Chris Packham, a beloved TV presenter of shows involving nature and natural history, said that a cease and desist letter sent from Swift to Jack Sweeney, the creator of social media accounts that logged the take-offs and landings of her jets, was the tipping point in his anger at the arguably careless use of highly wasteful transport.
‘You really missed the trick there, Taylor’
“We know that private jets are the single greatest contributor when it comes to jet aviation fuel and the least efficient because they’re carrying one person” Packham said. “And so he called her out and she threatened to sue him. And I just thought, ‘You really missed the trick there, Taylor’.
“What you should have said is, ‘You’re right, times have moved on. I’ve got to change my practice. I’m going to sell my private jets’. And that would have been such a powerful thing for her to say to an audience. And I mean, her audience is primarily a young audience, isn’t it? I mean, you can’t say she’s responsible for climate breakdown. But she’s an icon. And as a consequence of that, she should be leading.”
Want more, Swifties?
Packham is set to lead a ‘Walk for Nature’ rally in Central London on June 22 when Taylor is playing Wembley. He has publicly invited her to join and pledge to find more environmentally efficient ways of touring the world: “She should turn up on my stage and she should say: ‘I’m giving up flying on private jets.’ That would make the weekend for me. Let’s put it out there.”
The Mirror, the UK media outlet that first published Packham’s exclusive comments, approached Swift for a rebuttal. She is yet to respond.