President Barack Obama’s Earth Day flight down to Florida’s Everglades to highlight how global warming was affecting national parks cost taxpayers a whopping $866,615, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch.
For Earth Day in April, Obama flew down to Florida with Bill Nye the “Science Guy” in tow to give a speech about global warming. Unfortunately for taxpayers, the short trip cost $206,337 per hour. The White House argued the trip was to raise awareness about global warming, but news reports indicated Obama also used the trip to attack political opponents.
The New York Times reported that Obama’s “trip was also intended to sharpen a political contrast with Republicans in ways that he believes will help the Democratic Party in the next presidential contest, especially in states like Florida, where the impact of climate change is already being felt in profound ways.”
Reuters noted that Obama also took time to mock “Republican Senator Jim Inhofe… for throwing a snowball on the Senate floor during Washington’s cold winter.”
“The irony of using Air Force One for an unnecessary jaunt to discuss global warming aside, these documents show that taxpayers are being gouged for President Obama’s abuse of the perks of office,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “Taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for his continual savaging of political opponents.”
Obama has made global warming a top priority for his last term in office. The Obama administration has regulations coming down the pipe to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and methane emissions from natural gas drilling. He has also used executive orders to make it harder to develop federal lands.
“The Everglades is one of the most special places in our country,” Obama said in a video around Earth Day. “But it’s also one of the most fragile. Rising sea levels are putting a national treasure – and an economic engine for the South Florida tourism industry — at risk.”
Ironically, Obama’s Everglades trip may have actually harmed the pristine ecosystem. Obama’s one trip emitted the same amount of carbon dioxide as 17.2 cars driving for a year. Tp put that in perspective, it’s the same as burning nearly 88,000 pounds of coal or burning 190 barrels of crude oil.
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