Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, wrote in January 2010 on the Huffington Post that President Barack Obama was “The Greenest President Ever“.
Weeellll….maybe not. You see, today we have these headlines:
The Daily Mail: Forty planes and six armoured cars: Obama visit to India the ‘biggest ever by a US President’
NDTV reports: US to spend $200 million a day on Obama’s Mumbai visit
(Note: snopes.com posted on November 4th that this $200 million figure was wrong, but at the same time the White House can’t provide the actual numbers for security reasons. However, the numbers are likely inflated and a result of an error that started with an Indian News Agency that got repeated. – read details here The Daily Mail has not retracted their story as of the evening of November 4th. If they do, we will certainly follow. -Anthony)
…About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments…
Of course we know any US President doesn’t travel lightly, and needs security details and armored cars…but really, 3000 people and forty aircraft?
Let’s do the carbon math:
Estimate of the carbon footprint of President Obama’s trip to India
We are constantly told how bad air travel is for the planet. For example the UK has a whole organization dedicated to the issue, called “Plane Stupid”. Fortunately it is groups like these that enable us to calculate the carbon emissions of air travel using the handy dandy Terrapass web page.
1. If one assumes that all 3,000 people fly commercial from Washington, DC to New Delhi and back (and nowhere else), their cumulative carbon footprint can be calculated according to Terrapass at http://www.terrapass.com/carbon-footprint-calculator/#air.
Here’s the info on their calculation methodology.
So here’s what we get for the maximum number of people, ten, that we can select at one time on that website. Note that Bombay India is now called Mumbai, but the airport code is still BOM in Terrapass:
So multiply 62,238 lbs of CO2 for ten people times 300 (to make three thousand) and we get: 18, 671,400 lbs, or 9,336 short tons (2000 lbs) or 8,469 metric tons of CO2
To get the per capita figure in metric tons, divide that again by 3000 people which gives us 2.823 metric tons per person for this round trip.
2. The Brookings Institute did a survey in 2008 ranking major US cities by their per capita emissions. You can read the full report here. (PDF). If we were to compare his trip to the city table:
Obama’s trip comes in between Memphis and Raleigh on a per capita basis.
3. Caveat: Of course, this calculation excludes the carbon footprint for also traveling to Indonesia, S. Korea and Indonesia as part of this Grand Tour, as well as any other activity while in those places. Plus vehicles, and other forms of travel.
If we figured in all the travel, it would well be higher.
The message? Travel lightly but carry a big hockey stick.
4. If Obama wanted to offset the Carbon using the tool of choice of his buddy, Al Gore, the Chicago Climate Exchange, he could do so pretty cheaply since carbon offsets there are selling for 5 cents per metric ton.
So with 8,469 metric tons of CO2 emitted for the Washington to Bombay round trip, he could buy a carbon indulgence for a mere $423.45. That’s chump change when you are blowing a cool 200 million per day to keep everybody traveling in style.
Don’t forget the other 1000 people back here and around the world who have to keep an eye on him day and night while he’s on his escape, er, trip to India. They have to sit in front of energy burning computers, talking on energy burning phones monitoring satellites with energy-sucking electronics, satellites that were launched by the way on rockets – the carbon footprint of which you can’t even begin to imagine. Etc. etc…
Obama’s profligate carbon expenditures began on his first day of office.
He polluted the atmosphere with tons of CO2 when he signed his Energy Bill in Colorado instead of Washington, DC.
He contributes to Global Warming, so you don’t have to.
Must admit the prospect of President Biden scares me more that Obama or even Hillary. This is the guy who said he wanted to put all 10 million Serbs into “nazi style concentration camps”. That Nazi differs from Hitler only in that Hitler was intelligent.
Regarding Falluja this article, again from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_hysteria gives many instances of such mass hysteria, most relevently communities in fear of mysterious & non-existent gas attacks. The cure is to ignore it. Regretably that cure would diminish newspaper revenues. The fact is that radiation releases at undetectable levels are undetectable compared to easily detectable background radiation & is, in any case, entirely harmless.
From Tom in Florida on November 3, 2010 at 2:25 pm:
Yup, you’re right, and Wikipedia agrees. I had remembered that much of the Presidential line of succession, but thought there’d be a simple indexing of positions, with the House merely choosing a new Speaker for the vacancy at the end of the chain. Leave it to the politicians to have problems drawing a straight line. 😉
For those of you doubting the $200,000,000 per day, which you think is inflated too high, never EVER err on the low side when government spending is involved (hey, it’s how we got to this financial point remember?). Everything comes in way over budget and past all projections. When it happens to be the occupant of the White House who has practically no oversight over him/her, the sky is the limit.
That said, the sources all appear to point to an original source based in India. The ones ‘in the know’ are not telling. Only Congress could get this actual information, and not a single member, likely an oversight committee in a secret session so we’ll probably never know for sure. So we have to roll with what we got.
Naysayers should also note the source has said that Barry and his 3,000 closest friends are booking and taking over the entire Taj Mahal Hotel (plus others), its approx 500 rooms for 10 days (and presumably relieving the entire staff of I’m guessing several thousand).
Take a look at these vacation digs (and feel free to test book a room in the calculator) …
http://www.agoda.com/asia/india/mumbai/taj_mahal_hotel.html
Some of the money was also spent on Removing Coconuts which may fall on his head as reported by the BBC.
Three days right? So $600,000,000 total?
You could employ 12,000 Americans at $50k for one year with that money.
You could build 6,000 $100k homes to house homeless Americans.
How about food for the hungry or medical care for the destitute?
What can he accomplish by being there that he can’t accomplish with video conferencing?
Why is he even going there? To offshore more American jobs?
I despise the man. There is a special place in hell for entitled politicians who think they are royalty and would waste this kind of money while their nation is in a depression. I hope he and his wife keep this nonsense up. I will enjoy watching them tossed out on their rears in 2012. Greedy little entitled monsters the both of them.
Obama’s visit to India looks more like an invasion.
Besides 400 planes, armored cars, helicopters and security staff he brings in Navy with a fleet of 34 ships including an aircraft carrier.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-for-obama-visit-64459
Part of that cost includes a Carrier Battle Group. http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-for-obama-visit-64459
This is starting to sound more like an invasion than a visit.
“34 warships sent from US for Obama visit”
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-for-obama-visit-64459
Useless Obama pissing away taxpayer money, yet another violation of our rights. Add it to the list of gov’t violations of our right:
They violate the 1st Amendment by placing protesters in cages, banning books like “America Deceived II” and censoring the internet.
They violate the 2nd Amendment by confiscating guns.
They violate the 4th and 5th Amendment by molesting airline passengers.
They violate the entire Constitution by starting undeclared wars for foreign countries.
Impeach Obama and sweep out the Congress, except Ron Paul.
(Last link of Banned Book):
America Deceived II (book)
OK, I don’t know much about DU, but something has really damaged Falluja, this is a newspaper (well, it’s the Guardian, sorry) report from November of last year:
link here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects
Doctors in Iraq’s war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants, compared to a year ago, and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.
The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in Falluja’s over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies born.
Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian say the rise in birth defects – which include a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple tumours, and others with nervous system problems – are unprecedented and at present unexplainable.
A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women’s affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, and the British doctors David Halpin and Chris Burns-Cox, have petitioned the UN general assembly to ask that an independent committee fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over decades of war – including the six years since Saddam Hussein was ousted.
“We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies,” said Falluja general hospital’s director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. “Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically.”
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Here in Scotland Member of the Scottish Parliament has been making some noise about this (September, 2010) :
“Bill Wilson MSP (SNP) has lodged a Parliamentary Motion highlighting the consequences of the US and UK’s use of Weapons of Mass Destruction during an attack on Fallujah in 2004.
Speaking after lodging his motion, Dr Wilson said, “The consequences are ongoing: a survey showed a four-fold increase in all cancers, a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in under-14s and a 38-fold increase in leukaemia. By contrast, Hiroshima survivors showed a 17-fold increase with regard to the latter. What’s more, because of this cancer crisis, local doctors are advising women not to have children.
“It is disappointing, to say the least, that our media have paid relatively little attention to this issue. Yet women are now being advised not to have children. To turn a blind eye now would surely make us all complicit.”
Sorry, I meant to add to my previous post – and help pull it back on-topic – that India will be very glad – or at least serene – about receiving Obama. But Pakistan, given what has occured in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has already started happening in its own country, must be crapping itself.
Honestly, the carbon footprint of this visit is nothing compared with what has already been expended taking multiple carrier battle groups to the regions of the Persian Gulf (through the Suez canal), the Indian Ocean and South China Sea this year. The naval ships will no doubt be left there when Obama returns to US soil.
The biggest threat to climate today is nuclear war. No doubt about it.
And we all better take care ‘cos war makes money and the people makin’ the money don’t care how many people get killed while they’re makin’ the money.
Norman says:
November 4, 2010 at 10:42 am
They violate the 1st Amendment by placing protesters in cages.
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Only if they are protesting outside the new “free speech zones”. WTF is a free speech zone in a “free country”? Is that not what they call an oxymoron? I’m confused.
Not from the US but always keen to follow what goes on there because it usually arrives here (UK) a few years later (internet, free phone calls, jogging, breakfast TV, McDonalds, War on Terror, anti-terror legislation, etc.)
@ur momisugly Kitefreak says:
November 4, 2010 at 12:17 pm
“Bill Wilson MSP (SNP) has lodged a Parliamentary Motion highlighting the consequences of the US and UK’s use of Weapons of Mass Destruction during an attack on Fallujah in 2004.
This is a particularly egregious definition of the term “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, for no purpose other than political hyperbole. Warfare is ugly and deadly – that’s the whole point. I’ve been there and done that. But to stoop to using that fact for partisan political advantage is even uglier. A machine gun or a hand grenade can be called a WMD by those who wish to cloud the issue with emotional appeals. Warfare is destruction, with the intent to convince the opponent to quit fighting.
The end game of diplomacy is always, ALWAYS, the use of force. Everything prior to that is an attempt to avoid that use of force. Surprise! It doesn’t always work. You better be glad that the USA has the means and the will to use it, or you and I and 300 million other citizens would not be enjoying the freedoms that some take for granted. As has been said: “There is no substitute for victory”.
Quite frankly, I would rather our enemies suffer the indignities of warfare than the citizens of the USA, and when I was in that business I did my very best to ensure just that.
I think the Bush Blair definition of weapons of mass destruction was particularly egregious.
I find it particularly outrageous that George Bush juniour would joke about it (WMD’s) while giving a dinner speech:
There were no WMDs, just like there is no man made climate change.
There are many, many civilian deaths. So, who are our “enemies”?
Curiousgeorge;
or you and I and 300 million other citizens would not be enjoying the freedoms that some take for granted.>>
You might want to add all the other countries who have benefited as well, putting the number at billions.
Thank you for your service.
Curiousgeorge:
“Quite frankly, I would rather our enemies suffer the indignities of warfare than the citizens of the USA, and when I was in that business I did my very best to ensure just that.”
Who tells you who your enemies are?
Why do you believe them?
@ur momisugly Kitefreak says:
November 4, 2010 at 2:53 pm
So, who are our “enemies”?
Simple. Anyone who works to undermine or supplant the USA position in the world. And this conversation is over.
Missing information – a LOT of you are completely missing vital information re: the cost of this trip, which includes, the breakdown, transport, and re-assembly (+ required personnel since ‘state’ dept. won’t be performing the mechanics’ work) of all manner of in-theater transport (incl. CARS and HELICOPTERS) for the $200 million/day …
Geesh. Where would y’all be without me …
.
Yet another Watts blobpost based on incorrect information, swallowed whole by the acolytes who comment here.
The figure of $200M/day and the others associated with it are made up out of whole cloth by an Indian News Agency. The details mentioned are denied by administration spokespeople for the Pentagon and the Whitehouse.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/india.asp
Is this website turning into a shill for loopy conservative Republicans like Michelle Bachmann?
[REPLY – Well, we’re pretty low class, I guess. We allow your posts. ~ Evan]
REPLY: Funny how Mr. Eadler attacks me, instead of going to the source of the error. But then, he’s predictable. But the great thing about WUWT is that we can admit when something is wrong, instead of trying to cover it up like some people do. So yes, based on what snopes says, it appears to be wrong. Unfortunately, snopes.com also says:
So, it’s unconfirmable either way.
“Is this website turning into a shill for loopy conservative Republicans like Michelle Bachmann?”, I wouldn’t know, never heard of her until you mentioned it.
Oh and Eric, and good job on ignoring all the other details of the story. – Anthony
Repeating the $200 million a day canard gives this forum the same credibility as Fox News. In other words: none.
Anthony, you really need to have some standards here.
REPLY: See comment above. I look forward to your complaint letter to the Indian News agency responsible. I’ll be happy to post it here for you. – Anthony
Mark S said on November 4, 2010 at 6:15 pm:
And with that enlightened statement, I know exactly how much credibility to assign your comments. ☻
Yup, he’d even give UnReal Climate or Open-Aired Mind credit if they’d get something right. Go figure.
The $200 million per day cost is no less credible than Joe Stiglitz’ estimate of a $3 trillion war.
The $200 million per day is no less credible than the Lancet article which claimed 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians.
When I was an Army Jumpmaster, if we didn’t see the panels on the landing zone and had to make another pass for our drop, it would cost $1500 in extra fuel.
I don’t think it’s implausible at all to spend $200 million per day with so many ships and aircraft. Obama’s inauguration ceremony and parties cost $160 million and dumped 100 tons of trash on the streets of DC. The correct calculation, though, should be the extra expenses over and above regular operating costs. Joe Stiglitz didn’t bother with such petty details.
The remarkable thing about those who doubt the massive cost, regardless of its plausibility, is that you SIMPLY DON’T CARE how much it costs or how much CO2 he emits during the trip. The Indian media shouldn’t be calculating the magnitude of Obama’s hypocrisy, YOU should be.
Looks like this is Obama’s “Let them eat cake!” moment.
For all the people claiming depleted uranium doesn’t cause cancer, I suggest allowing your homes to be used for live fire exercises by A-10 Warthogs, then you should rebuild right over the exact same spot and live there. I’ll check in on you in a few years and verify that you’re all tumor-free. If you’re not willing to put your money where your apologist mouths are then kindly STFU.