Quote:You should have just admitted yours was a ridiculous hyperbolic comparison, chided me for not recognizing sarcasm and gone about your day. One person driving a car for a lifetime will certainly generate more CO2 than the motorcade in question.

 

Otherwise, the points you made were valid.

 

If all we were talking about was the motorcade, I'd agree with you. You need to actually read the link. It was a private jet to Milan and back, plus a motorcade, plus 30 helicopters circling the destination. Admittedly I don't have the exact amount of CO2 generated. Maybe the final total doesn't add up to a full lifetime of emissions for the average citizen, but it's multiple years worth at least.

 

And there may have been one or more military jets escorting Obama's jet. Military jets are a lot more wasteful of fuel. That was not mentioned in the link, but is standard practice for protecting Presidents (but maybe not former Presidents). Military escort was part of his entourage when he gave similar speeches as President. This isn't the first time he's traveled across the globe to give a speech on cutting CO2 emissions.

---