Tesla boss and green energy advocate Elon Musk’s private jet recently took a nine-minute flight of just 31 miles, a distance easily drivable in one of his own electric vehicles.
Futurism reports that the Twitter account ElonJet, which tracks Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s flight patterns — and which Musk attempted to bribe to shut down — has revealed that the billionaire’s plane recently completed a flight of just nine minutes, covering 31 miles in the Bay Area. It isn’t known if Musk himself was aboard.
The flight left San Jose, California on Friday morning and just 9 minutes later landed in San Francisco. The information comes from automated public flight information software connected to the ElonJet Twitter account. Many were quick to criticize the billionaire who has branded himself and many of his companies as “eco-friendly.”
Last month, Musk took issue with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, stating that Gates was a hypocrite for publicly talking about climate change while holding short positions in Tesla essentially betting against the failure of the company.
Musk said that he could not take Gates’ climate change philanthropy seriously if he was shorting an electric car company. Gates discussed the situation stating: “I don’t think whether one’s short or long Tesla is a statement about your seriousness about climate change. I applaud Tesla’s role in helping with climate change.”
Musk’s private space exploration company Tesla has also been facing environmental issues as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pushed back SpaceX’s launches in Texas as the agency examines the facility’s environmental impact.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blasted Musk over his climate hypocrisy. Musk had tweeted his displeasure with President Donald Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, which drew ire from many conservatives including Cruz.
Hours later, Cruz mocked Musk’s outrage, pointing out that he regularly travels around the country in his own private jet. If the billionaire CEO was so dedicated to reducing the world’s carbon output, Cruz snarked, he would choose to fly commercial planes rather than private ones.
Musk has come under fire previously for his liberal use of his private jet, which he upgraded last year from a Dassault Falcon 900 B to a Gulfstream G650 ER. It was reported in 2010 that Musk took private jets to Washington on at least 12 occasions over the course of two years to lobby the Department of Energy for a loan of $465 million, which Musk’s company Tesla was eventually granted.
Around the same time, Tesla also struck deals with the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority that made the company exempt from up to $320 million in California State sales and U.S. taxes.
Read more at Futurism here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com