Springwatch presenter Chris Packham has urged singer-songwriter Taylor Swift to reconsider her private jet use moving forward, which has attracted attention in recent years
Campaigning TV star Chris Packham has urged pop icon Taylor Swift to reconsider her "absurd" private jet use.
The Springwatch host spoke out after the singer reportedly racked up 178,000 miles on her two planes last year. Taylor is currently on her sold-out Eras tour in Europe and starts the UK and Ireland leg on June 7.
Chris says he was particularly outraged after the singer sent a cease and desist letter to Jack Sweeney, the creator of social media accounts that logged the take-offs and landings of her jets, one of which she has now sold.
The TV star, who is fronting Springwatch from RSPB Arne in Dorset from next Monday said: "We know that private jets are the single greatest contributor when it comes to jet aviation fuel and the least efficient because they're carrying one person. And so he called her out and she threatened to sue him. And I just thought, 'You really missed the trick there, Taylor'.
"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'. And that would have been such a powerful thing for her to say to an audience. And I mean, her audience is primarily a young audience, isn't it? I mean, you can't say she's responsible for climate breakdown. But she's an icon. And as a consequence of that, she should be leading."
Coincidentally, Chris is fronting a Walk for Nature rally in Central London on June 22 when Taylor is playing Wembley so he will be asking her to join him at the end of it. He said: "She should turn up on my stage and she should say: 'I'm giving up flying on private jets.' That would make the weekend for me. Let's put it out there."
One heavily criticised flight was her dash from Tokyo to Las Vegas to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce win a third Super Bowl.
Mr Sweeney claimed that "Swift's two private jets flew 178,000 miles in 2023 equivalent to flying around the Earth seven times, emitting 1,200 tons of CO2 in the process. That's 83 times the average American".
We have approached Taylor for comment.
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