Sam Dealey

The Obama Inauguration's Carbon Footprint

January 15, 2009 RSS Feed Print

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By Sam Dealey, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Team Obama says reducing the carbon-dioxide emissions that result from burning fossil fuels will be a priority, and some careless talk suggests his EPA will eschew carrots for the punitive stick of regulation and taxes. Now the good people over at the Institute for Liberty have punched back with a carbon-footprint estimate for the Obama inauguration itself.

Using data from the EPA, environmentalist organizations, and various news accounts, the group estimates more than 500 million pounds of CO₂ will be released during the four-day inaugural festivities. Among the offenders:

The 600 private jets expected to fly visitors to and from the event will produce 25,320,000 pounds of CO₂.
Personal vehicles could account for 262,483,200 pounds of CO₂.
The horses in the parade will produce more than 400 pounds of CO₂.

And if you don't have an idea what a pound of CO₂ really means, consider this: The average household would take 57,598 years to produce as much CO₂ as Obama's inauguration.

Its warnings about the huge carbon footprint notwithstanding, the Institute for Liberty stresses that it doesn't mean to rain on Obama's parade. "We don't believe this [CO₂ production] is a problem," says the group's president, Andrew Langer. "We believe people should use energy. But the point is, if Obama's administration is going to go after small business for its carbon footprint, then maybe they should look at themselves first."

Still, Langer admits the study isn't entirely accurate. "We haven't looked at the methane or CO₂ that will be expended by people standing on the mall," he says.