As the light-up wristbands of the adoring fans of Taylor Swift illuminate the stadium in an array of colors, the second wealthiest self-made woman in music history takes her rightful place on the stage, ready to sing 44 songs across 10 albums for the thousands of “Swifties” seated around her.
“I have listened to Taylor almost all my life,” sophomore Daniella Swim said. “I really like to jam to a lot of her music.”
Yet all of them sit unaware of the hundreds of tons of carbon emissions their talented, blonde idol has produced.
“Her carbon emissions are absolutely insane,” Swim said. “She does not need to use her private jet that often; has she ever heard of a tour bus?”
Taylor Swift, an American pop singer famous for her wide variety of music, has been swimming in cash since the start of her famous “Eras Tour” on March 17, 2023. Since then, Swift has sold over 4.35 million tickets and has made a whopping $1.4 billion dollars from her travels around America, bringing love, positivity, and catchy songs with her.
As of recently, Swift, who is well-known for her collection of ex-boyfriends, has a new partner: Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs football team.
“I’ve been a Chiefs fan since birth, and I’ve heard all about Travis and Taylor,” sophomore Cardin Hein said. “She’s a supportive girlfriend and doesn’t deserve that much hate, but I know she takes really short flights.”
Because of the sheer amount of traveling done by the pair, it is assumed that the couple would have trouble finding time to see one another with Swift and her concerts and Kelce and his games.
Swift has made it blatantly obvious it is no trouble at all. With the vast amounts of money the singer has accumulated from successful albums and sold-out stadiums, as well as the amount of traveling she must do to get from place to place, it is no doubt that Swift owns a private jet.
Although many celebrities own private jets, as to not be swarmed in public by fans and paparazzi, Swift uses her jet excessively and unnecessarily at times. As many have noticed, Swift is at almost every game of the Kansas City Chiefs in order to support her boyfriend, yet the self-made millionaire has raked in over 138 tons of carbon emissions in doing so.
“One hundred and thirty-eight tons [of carbon emissions] is the same as powering 26 homes over a three-month period,” AP Environmental Science teacher Daniel Garcia said. “The biggest concern is that if you have got to fly far, you have got to fly far, but if you are taking these jets for 20-minute rides because you do not feel like sitting through an hour of traffic, then that is where it becomes a big deal.”
It seems that Swift does not like to use other modes of transportation, as she unnecessarily uses the jet to travel 15-20 minutes away, somewhere easily accessible by car. Not only this, but she also uses it to travel to and from her boyfriend’s football games, polluting the air with every trip she makes.
“Even though 20 minutes to an hour might not seem like a long time, the amount of CO2 used in that 20 minutes far outweighs the 1-hour drive,” Garcia said. “It is time for celebrities to realize it is an extreme thing to use a jet; if it is not for business and is used to save forty minutes, it is better to take a private car or something like that.”
According to environmentalists, Swift would need to plant over 2,200 trees to offset the damage she has already done.
Now, it is important to note that Swift is not the only celebrity who has caused significant environmental damage due to frivolous jet rides. Other notable celebrities include Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, Stephen Spielberg, and Travis Scott.
“I understand why she’s getting hate because she’s in the spotlight for dating a Super Bowl champ,” Hein said. “But if you’re going to hate on her emissions, you have to notice other celebrities are also creating emissions.”
It is safe to say that although a private jet is necessary at times, especially for long-distance travel to concerts, it is important that Taylor Swift keep an environmentally friendly mindset and not use it flippantly.
