Chris Packham has issued a plea to Taylor Swift, begging her to stop using her private jet to travel from country to country.
The Springwatch presenter, 63, became especially concerned by Swift’s aviation habits after University of Central Florida student Jack Sweeney, who runs social media accounts that track the private jets, claimed Swift had travelled roughly 178,000 miles on her two jets in 2023.
Swift’s legal team subsequently issued Sweeney with a “cease and desist” letter, accusing the 21-year-old of “stalking and harassing behaviour” – a move that has outraged Packham.
Speaking to the Mirror, the Springwatch presenter said that Swift, who is travelling across Europe for her Eras tour,should be more of a role model for her young fans when it comes to her carbon footprint.
Packham claimed the singer had “missed the trick” by threatening legal action against Sweeney rather than saying something “powerful” about the environment.
“What you should have said is, ‘You’re right, times have moved on. I’ve got to change my practice. I’m going to sell my private jets,’” he told Swift via the interview.
“You can’t say she’s responsible for climate breakdown,” the presenter added. “But she’s an icon. And as a consequence of that, she should be leading.”
Swift’s jets reportedly emitted 1,200 tons of CO2 in 2023. However, a report by Minimum Deposit Casinos claimed that other celebrities such as Pitbull, Drake and Kylie Jenner have been responsible for even more carbon pollution through private jet travel.
A new law in the United States will prevent billionaires from being held accountable for their jet emissions by keeping passengers of private planes anonymous, it was announced on Friday (24 May).
A recent amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorisation bill allows private plane owners to anonymise their registration information, making it significantly more difficult to track private plane activity.
Sweeney, however, wrote on Twitter/X that it was still possible to track private jets despite the new amendment.
“Let this be said that this doesn’t prevent us from tracking jets. We can still figure out who’s who via context clues,” he said.
“Quite possibly it makes me want to push even harder on tracking.”
Through her attorney Katie Wright Morrone from the Washington law firm Venable, Swift sent Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter in December warning that the “Cruel Summer” singer would be forced to pursue legal action if he didn’t end this “stalking and harassing behaviour”.
“While this may be a game to you, or an avenue that you hope will earn you wealth or fame, it is a life-or-death matter for our Client,” Morrone wrote in the letter, posted to Reddit. She stressed that there was “no legitimate interest in or public need for this information, other than to stalk, harass, and exert dominion and control.”
