Before Suing Big Oil for Murder, Schwarzenegger Commuted Daily on Private Jet
An energy interest group is asking California to release records of private and charter flights Arnold Schwarzenegger took while he served as the state’s governor.
Power The Future filed four Freedom of Information Act requests Friday, seeking records on Schwarzenegger’s private air travel costs, according to documents The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained.
The Hollywood actor spent roughly $60,000 every day he took a round trip flight between Sacramento and his mansion in Brentwood, which is a wealthy neighborhood in Los Angeles more than 700 miles away.
Schwarzenegger has long been an environmental activist, calling for further investment into renewable sources and stiffer penalties for using fossil fuels.
On March 11, he called some energy companies murderers for contributing to climate change.
“To me it’s absolutely irresponsible to know that your product is killing people and not have a warning label on it, like tobacco,” Schwarzenegger told Politico last Sunday, announcing a new initiative to go after oil companies “for knowingly killing people all over the world.”
“If you walk into a room and you know you’re going to kill someone, it’s first-degree murder; I think it’s the same thing with the oil companies,” Schwarzenegger added.
Schwarzenegger paid for the travel out of his own pocket and invested in green energy by purchasing carbon credits to offset the use of his Gulfstream jet, the former governor claimed. Carbon credits do not remove carbon from the air.
Driving a small car for a year has the same environmental impact as flying Schwarzenegger’s plan for an hour, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Power The Future Executive Director Daniel Turner filed the FOIAs to ensure the former governor kept his word and California taxpayers did not foot the bill for his high-class travel.
“We sent the FOIA’s to confirm whether or not (Schwarzenegger) was reimbursed,” Turner told TheDCNF in an email. “Arnold is no doubt a rich person — but estimated $30k one way — $60k round trip, Mon-Fri for two terms is a lot of money for any multi-millionaire.”
Turner also pointed out the hypocrisy of Schwarzenegger’s actions and his current environmental campaign.
“If his new energy crusade is to be authentic, he will either reimburse the taxpayers or apologize. There is no doubt he will not do either,” Turner told TheDCNF, saying the actor’s behavior is condescending to thousands of Americans working in the energy industry. Workers in the energy industry “deserve a thank you, not a law suit” from Schwarzenegger.
Turner included records current California Gov. Jerry Brown’s private and charter air travel in his FOIAs, as well.
“Just like the old days on The Hill, when you could fly on the Lockheed Jet and not have to report it, it’s likely he flies to Paris Climate Meetings on someone else’s plane and doesn’t have to record it since it’s an ‘unofficial’ event,” Turner said. “Still, our FOIAs seek transparency and clarity on his travel too.”
A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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