Climate-conscious Democrats have typically opposed rampant private jet travel. But news of West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice’s daily private plane commute elicited mere shrugs from some Senate Democrats recently.
Three Senate Democrats — Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Peter Welch of Vermont — in 2023 introduced a bill to impose a new “emission surcharge” on private air travel due to its rampant pollution.
Justice commutes to Washington every day on his private jet, as first reportedby Punchbowl News. The former governor, who made his riches in the coal business, lives at his Greenbrier Resort.
When asked by POLITICO’s E&E News about Justice’s travel, the three senators declined to criticize him. Whitehouse and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) went even further, arguing that individuals should not be targeted for their emissions.
