About Mr. Brown’s Carbon Footprint ...

Photo by Irargerich via Flickr (Creative Commons).

The French environmental magazine Terra Eco says British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is accountable for more CO2 from domestic and international plane travel than many of his European counterparts. Using data from journalists and aviation experts, Terra Pass calculated that Brown’s plane trips kicked out around 8,400 tons of CO2. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s air travel produced 7,400 tons, French President Nicolas Sarkozy made 7,100 tons and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero created 6,700 tons.

Terra Eco said it focused on leaders who have a professed interest in environmental issues, leaving Mr. Brown the least green of them all. An interesting tidbit: Sarkozy had a smaller carbon footprint despite traveling more than twice as many miles as Brown. Why? Sarkozy traveled on a small and more efficient Airbus A319 instead of Boeing 747, 757 and 777 planes favored by Brown.

I’m pretty sure any U.S. president flying on Air Force One jets (Boeing 747 models) would flunk this test.

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