Forget Limousine Liberals. It appears as though we have entered the brave new world of the LearJet Liberal. And the spokesman for this motley crue just might be John Travolta. Recently, Travolta stood somberly at a British airport and admonished all of his fans to "do their bit" to counter the scourge of global warming. Carbon emissions, the actor said, were such a threat that if every member of society did not do as much as possible to trim his or her polution footprint, human beings might have to look to dome cities on other planets as a way to escape climate change. Then, without a dash of irony, Scientologist-turned-scientist disappeared into the cockpit of his customized Boeing 707 jet and fired up all four Pratt & Whitney jet engines and took to the sky. I don't know if Pratt & Whitney has come up with a hybrid jet engine yet, but I'm pretty sure that the engines on any 707, which was produced between 1958 and 1978, are not models of fuel efficiency. Travolta admits that is obsession with flying a jet designed for commercial use as his personal conveyance is not the most 'green' way to travel. That may be underestimating it a bit. London's Daily Mail newspaper estimates that Travolta's carbon footprint for last year was almost 800 tons, or equal to about one hundred times the average person's output. Needless to say, Travolta was not ferrying a planeload of passengers back and forth on his jet, which, in commercial service is designed to accomodate up to 200 travelers. Fans who witnessed the incident say he was the only passenger on the plane.
Travolta, however, is far from alone in his hypocricy within his celebrity circle. Brad Pitt, another eco-warrior, has repeatedly grabbed headlines for his castigating admonitions that the self-centered Americans driving their SUVs to big box stores in the suburbs were destroying the planet. So dedicated is he to the green cause that he drives a Toyota Prius. And, word is, Pitt drives it everywhere, even to the hanger housing his LearJet, assumedly Pitt's prefered mode of conveyance for destinations not within Prius range. Leonardo diCaprio, not to be outdone, also drives a Prius but, unlike Pitt, does not place a wholesale ban on commercial air travel. In fact, diCaprio says he sacrifices for the environment by flying commercial "when he can." Otherwise, he flies his private jet. Apparently, it's acceptable to believe in environmentalism when convenient.
If the celebrities' chicken-little prognostications of impending ecological doom are to be believed, even diCaprio would have to admit that driving a Prius while flying a LearJet must be the carbon-emissions equivalent of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
While celebrities are expected to be hypocritical and divorced from reality, we often hope that our local governments do not act with the same reckless abandon. And often, we are proved wrong. Witness Austin, Texas, a formerly sleepy town in the middle of South Texas that is trying hard to become the Cambridge of the South. Or the Berkeley of the West. A spate of 'green' regulations introduced by the aptly-named mayor Will Wynn prove that the Texas Capital is embracing LearJet Liberalism. Shortly after denouncing the dearth of affordable housing in the city, the mayor introduced a regulation that no home could be bought or sold in the city limits without receiving a "Certificate of Compliance" from city government. The inspection required to receive this certificate is far from the standard safety inspection, however. Austin's new regulation will require that homeowners upgrade their mechanical systems, insulation, and windows to meet stringent environmental standards before they can sell their house. So drastic is this new ordinance that local realtors estimate the upgrades will cost the average Austin homeowner as much as $10,000. And the rules are not limited merely to older homes. With proposed requirements such as tankless water heaters, even homes built as recently as 2004 are expected to require extensive upgrades.
Local opposition to this ordinance has been described as fierce, but the city shows no sign of backing down. Austin's property values have skyrocketed in recent years, thanks largely due an influx of West Coast LearJet liberals, and the mayor presumedly believes that homes are now so expensive within the city limits that a few extra upgrades can't hurt. Besides, it's what the California expats no doubt expect. And the LearJet Liberals' incluence in Austin is extensive. In fact, the town even has its own enclave of A-list celebrities who no doubt appreciate the town's green attitude. I bet the Austin airport even has hanger space for Travolta's 707.
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