here are some hyper-polluting individuals:

  • the Rolling Stones’ Boeing 767 (5,046 tonnes of CO2)
  • Lawrence Stroll (1,512 flights)
  • Thirty-nine jets linked to 30 Russian oligarchs – (30,701 tonnes of CO2)

relevant quote:

But I will say this, a movement can’t get along without a devil, and across the whole political spectrum there is a misogynistic tendency to choose a female devil, whether it’s Anita Bryant, Hillary Clinton, Marie Antoinette, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or J.K. Rowling [or Taylor Swift]. And there’s always gonna be people who seize on any opportunity to be misogynistic. So I would advise trans people and our allies [or environmentalists] to keep in mind, that J.K. Rowling [Taylor Swift] is not the final boss of transphobia [anti-environmentalism]. She’s not our devil. The devil is the Republican Party, the Conservative Party.

—Natalie Wynn (emphasis and bracket text mine)

edit: if you can’t respond to this without using the c*nt expletive it is not helping your case lmao. mods are we okay with this? in any case, please don’t feed the trolls.

edit 2/FAQ: “but why did she threaten legal action against that college kid though?” still shitty, but refer to this comment for a good explanation of the context behind that decision.

She only threatened legal action since those memes started before when her flight movements got the attention of the right in an attempt to make her less credible of a voice speaking out against trump. And knowing how batshit insane trump cultists can be and how she’s basically the single most hated person of his base I’m not surprised that she feared for her security. Those records were public for years but the legal action only happened after someone created that meme and even fox news suddenly cared about plane emissions…

and another good comment

[…] For Swift, this is legitimate fear. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced actual fear for your life, but it’s crippling, and it effects your psyche. To experience that on a daily basis because of an app? You bet your goddamn ass I’m going to talk to my lawyers about what my options are.

sources/timeline for the above:

  • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
    4·
    9 months ago

    Levying valid criticism on someone is not scapegoating. You can criticize more than one person for the same thing.

    • Poppa_Mo@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      This isn’t wrong, but the uptick in these memes coincides ridiculously with Trumps recent desire to latch on to her name.

      The narrative is constantly being spun by these fucking goons.

      • 474D@lemmy.world
        1·
        9 months ago

        The uptick is due to her threatening legal action against the flight tracker dude and being all over TV for football this season. I find it hard to believe the trumpers give a shit about the environment. But I suppose they could hop on the bandwagon if it fits their “enemy”

    • blindsight@beehaw.org
      0·
      9 months ago

      The point is that the scapegoat is usually female. Why is Taylor Swift being singled out for her private jet use? Is it because her use is assumed to be less legitimate because she’s a woman?

      A quick Internet search brought up this:

      Among the most polluting jets covered by the list was a Boeing 767 wide-body aircraft used by the Rolling Stones. It emitted an estimated 5,046 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of someone taking 1,763 return flights from London to New York City in economy class.

      Aircraft owned by Lawrence Stroll, the billionaire owner of the Aston Martin Formula One team, recorded a combined 1,512 flights since the start of 2022. His private aircraft, including two helicopters, also made the most journeys of 15 minutes or less.

      Thirty-nine jets linked to 30 Russian oligarchs – including Roman Abramovich, Leonid Mikhelson and the recently deceased leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin – were responsible for 30,701 tonnes of CO2 (equivalent to the total average carbon footprint of around 1,000 Russians).

      Source

      So, attacking billionaires who are abusing private jets is totally fair, in general, but always singing out the woman who does so is misogynistic.

      Where are the Rolling Stones or Laurence Stroll memes?

      • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
        2·
        9 months ago

        There have been memes about lots of shit head billionaires. The Taylor Swift ones are popular right now because she Streisand’ed it by trying to get that tracker taken down.

      • Sneezycat@sopuli.xyz
        2·
        9 months ago

        I mean there was a Twitter account that followed Elon’s jet and was banned. That was the first time I saw a big meme around billionaires using jets. And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen other people criticized for it too. I feel like the focus is on Taylor this time around, but it’s just one of many. Although I’m not saying there’s no mysoginy involved, but I don’t think she’s singled out if you think of a couple years timeframe.

      • BluesF@lemmy.world
        2·
        9 months ago

        The only reason this has blown up is because she threatened that tracker with legal action. It’s the Streisand effect 100%. The same shit happend when Elon Musk shut down the account that was tracking him.

        • Geobloke@lemmy.world
          0·
          9 months ago

          Gee, it’s almost like she’s worried about stalkers or something. And I was on the net when elon tried it ands it wasn’t like this

          • beardown@lemm.ee
            2·
            9 months ago

            You’re treating her better than Elon purely because she’s a woman. That’s sexism

              • beardown@lemm.ee
                2·
                9 months ago

                You’re saying it’s valid and good for her to worry about stalkers. You are not saying the same about Elon. This is purely because she is a woman and he is a man. This is sexism.

                Women are not delicate flowers who need to be protected. Men are not tough monsters who do not need protecting.

                Billionaires are destructive enemies of humanity - gender doesn’t affect that analysis

        • gmtom@lemmy.world
          1·
          9 months ago

          No one memed on Elon when he shut down his tracker?

          Yes they did? When he announced he was buying twitter/everyone/ was miming on him because they knew he was buying it to shut down that account.

        • Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          9 months ago

          Taylor has long had criticism for her jet use, the meme explosion is just about the media wanting to use her as hype prop while at the same time her team sued to shutdown the flight tracker kid. Posts that seem obsessed with possible damage to Taylor’s reputation sound like it is coming from a PR firm. Does Op genuinely believe that someone sees a Jet Meme and think differently of Taylor? Is Op against Taylor being the poster child for Aviation reform? I do not understand why an uninterested third party feels the need to prevent Taylor from suffering consequences of her actions merely because other heads should roll first.

          ETA: I had to check if OP was a PR FIRM, check OP’s own response to Taylor Jet Memes: https://lemmy.cafe/comment/4651417

          • spujb@lemmy.cafeOPEnglish
            0·
            9 months ago

            thanks for your commentary.

            1. taylor swift absolutely should face the consequences for her actions. there is no good billionaire.
            2. these memes kicked off in 2022, and Swift reduced jet use (significantly, but not perfectly) in response, something i have never seen from any other individual. she is still worthy of criticism but i question if what she is getting is proportionate.
            3. it is now 2024. i am concerned to see that Fox News is using this debacle to discredit her (good and positive) call to increase voter participation.
            • Droggelbecher@lemmy.world
              1·
              9 months ago

              She isn’t getting the most hate because she is the worst offender, she is getting the most hate because she is the most famous and most beloved offender right now. People already hate the likes of Musk. Not saying this is the only reason and there’s no sexism etc involved, but it certainly is part of it. And I’d argue if calling attention to rich people’s environment sins, it’s going to get more attention the more famous and well liked the offender is. It’s ‘yes ALL billionaires are bad, even the one who’s likeable and pretty and makes good music and never says unhinged right wing stuff’.