BanPrivateJets.org is an initiative aiming at discussing realistic policies to massively reduce flying.

Aviation is the source of an important chunk of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in high-income countries. To mitigate climate change it is thus of paramount importance to massively limit the hours of fossil-fueled flying.

BanPrivateJets.org wants to stress that, to achieve this, it is necessary to develop and implement socially acceptable policy measures. Linear taxation, the go-to approach, is either ineffective, if low, or makes flying prohibitively expensive for a large share of people who presently can afford it. Beyond the ethical implications of restricting flying to an even smaller set of wealthy people, such a policy is not likely to pass in any democratic context.

Banning private jets, the namesake of this initiative, is just one example of such measures. It achieves important reductions hitting a very small set of people without making flying more difficult for those who only infrequently do so. As such it should be socially acceptable. Moreover, it communicates the urgency of tackling climate change.

#BanPrivateJets because it hits first those who pollute most
#BanPrivateJets because it doesn’t hit people who fly rarely
#BanPrivateJets because there is no reason to allow them
#BanPrivateJets because something has to be done right now

Other avenues for action to be explored are:

  • Making flying less comfortable for those flyers with low price elasticity
  • Reducing military flying

This website is under construction. Follow BanPrivateJets.org on Twitter to stay tuned.

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