Climate Activist’s Private Jet Hypocrisy

Senator Bernie Sanders burned through over half a million dollars on private jets in 2025 while barnstorming the country to warn Americans about the existential threat of climate change and the greed of oligarchs.

Story Snapshot

Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with AOC generated 62.15 metric tons of CO2—equivalent to the average American’s emissions over five years
Campaign filings reveal over $550,000 spent on private aviation in 2025, including $221,000 in the first quarter alone
Energy watchdog Power the Future calculated the tour’s emissions equal burning 62,600 pounds of coal or driving an SUV 150,000 miles
Sanders refuses to apologize, calling private jets “the only way to get around” for his multi-city schedule

The Carbon Footprint That Launched a Thousand Critiques

Power the Future released its bombshell emissions analysis on May 13, 2025, after tracking Sanders’ 16-stop tour across the country. The Vermont senator and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez crisscrossed America in luxury jets while promoting their Green New Deal agenda. Photos captured a Bombardier Challenger aircraft waiting on the tarmac in Bakersfield, California, after one event. Federal Election Commission filings showed payments to Ventura Jets, Cirrus Aviation Services, and N-Jet throughout the first quarter. The irony wasn’t lost on critics: private jets emit up to 14 times more carbon dioxide per passenger than commercial flights, according to a 2021 Transport & Environment report.

Dan Turner, founder of Power the Future, didn’t mince words when calling Sanders a “limousine liberal” and “fake socialist.” The energy watchdog founder argued that this type of hypocrisy has actively damaged the climate movement’s credibility with ordinary Americans. The National Republican Congressional Committee pounced, with spokesperson Ben Petersen labeling Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez “champagne socialists” who demand sacrifices from working families while living like the wealthy elite they claim to oppose. The emissions comparison proved particularly damning: five years of an average American’s carbon footprint compressed into a few months of political barnstorming.

A Pattern of Privilege Spanning Nearly a Decade

Sanders’ relationship with private aviation began long before his 2025 tour. In 2016, while campaigning for Hillary Clinton as a surrogate, he took three multi-day private jet trips costing over $100,000. Clinton campaign staffers griped about the extravagance, pushing for commercial alternatives, but ultimately relented to accommodate the senator’s preferences. The following year, Sanders’ DNC unity tour with Tom Perez racked up $157,000 in private jet expenses through Apollo Jets. By the time his 2020 presidential campaign concluded, he had spent $1.9 million on private air travel—on top of the $342,000 spent after the 2016 election.

Politico exposed the post-2016 spending in 2019, highlighting the stark contradiction between Sanders’ rhetoric and reality. The senator had built his political brand on attacking fossil fuel companies and decrying wealth inequality as an existential crisis for American democracy. His spokesperson defended the travel at the time, claiming the demanding itinerary “could not be completed commercially” and insisting the campaign purchased carbon offsets. The defense rang hollow to critics who noted that Sanders simultaneously demanded ordinary Americans sacrifice their gas-powered vehicles and accept higher energy costs to combat climate change.

The Fox News Defense That Changed Nothing

When Fox News anchor Bret Baier confronted Sanders about his private jet travel, the senator doubled down. Sanders insisted there was “no apology” forthcoming, explaining that conducting three to five rallies per week reaching 30,000 people required private aviation. He acknowledged commercial flights exist between Washington and Los Angeles but prioritized speed and convenience over his stated climate principles. The interview crystallized what critics had argued for years: progressive politicians exempt themselves from the restrictions they eagerly impose on everyone else. Sanders’ defiant stance suggested he saw no contradiction between his climate activism and carbon-intensive travel habits.

The tour continued unabated after the emissions report went public. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez pressed forward with their “Fighting Oligarchy” message, seemingly unbothered by accusations of elite hypocrisy. Conservative media outlets from Fox News to Sky News mocked the defense, while even CNN commentators struggled to reconcile Sanders’ words with his actions. The Republican National Committee weaponized the story for electoral advantage, framing it as emblematic of progressive politicians’ “do as I say, not as I do” mentality. Yet Sanders’ progressive base largely remained loyal, demonstrating the tribal nature of modern American politics where partisan identity trumps principled consistency.

The Broader Implications for Climate Politics

Sanders’ jet-setting tour represents more than personal hypocrisy—it exposes a fundamental credibility problem for climate activism. When prominent advocates demand sacrifices from middle-class Americans while maintaining carbon-intensive lifestyles themselves, they undermine their own cause. The average American watching Sanders board luxury jets while calling climate change an existential threat reasonably questions whether the crisis is truly as urgent as claimed. If the most vocal climate warriors won’t change their behavior, why should truck drivers in Ohio or factory workers in Pennsylvania accept higher energy costs and reduced mobility?

The long-term damage extends beyond Sanders personally. His continued pattern of private jet use—spanning from 2016 through 2025—establishes precedent for other progressive politicians to prioritize convenience over climate concerns. The cognitive dissonance required for Sanders’ supporters to defend his travel while attacking fossil fuel companies and ordinary consumers creates a double standard that corrodes public trust. Common sense suggests that leaders serious about climate change would model the behavior they demand from others. Instead, Sanders’ $550,000 private jet tab in a single year reveals the uncomfortable truth that elite progressives value their own comfort more than the planetary emergency they claim threatens human civilization.