In 2017, Gates took 59 flights, presumably in his private plane, which he has described as a ‘guilty pleasure.’ I am certain that his guilty pleasure produces a lot more CO2 than my own dark chocolate fetish. His flights emitted 1,600 tons of carbon dioxide in a single year whereas most of us produce only 10 tons annually.
In February, it was rumoured that Gates had bought a superyacht, something he has yet to confirm or deny, although he certainly charters them. The timing is suspicious, given that several billionaires took to the seas in superyachts in March to escape Covid-19 and the unpleasant effects of medieval lockdowns. The environmental damage they would have done to our oceans’ delicate ecosystems bears examination. One superyacht uses around 500 litres of petrol per hour and pumps out 2.1 million tons of C02 a year.
~ Karen Harradine, "The megalomania of Bill Gates - Part One," The Conservative Woman, December 12, 2020
