Kerry family jet flies to Idaho while he goes on international climate tour

The jet belonging to climate czar John Kerry’s family made its way to Idaho, where he and his wife have reportedly vacationed, as he traveled in Asia to promote the Biden administration’s message on the issue.

Flight records show that the jet left Boston late afternoon and landed in Hailey, Idaho, later that evening. It’s unclear what the trip was for but the Idaho Press reported last year that he and his wife, Teresa, have been part-time residents in the nearby Sun Valley for decades.

According to the State Department, the former secretary of state is currently on a trip through Asia that’s set to end on Friday. The trip, which started April 1, extends from Abu Dhabi to Dhaka and is intended “for consultations on increasing climate ambition” ahead of a climate summit hosted by President Biden.

In the past, Kerry has encountered scrutiny over use of his family jet while speaking out against climate change. Most notably, when Kerry took his jet to receive a climate award in Iceland, he called it “the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle.”

JOHN KERRY TOOK PRIVATE JET TO ICELAND FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD, CALLED IT ‘ONLY CHOICE FOR SOMEBODY LIKE ME’

Private jets have been estimated to emit upward of 40 times as much carbon per passenger as commercial flights.

FlightAware logs show that the jet traveled from Bedford, Massachusetts, to Martha’s Vineyard, which is also in Massachusetts, on March 26 and from Martha’s Vineyard to Boston on March 28.

It’s unclear how Kerry has been offsetting his carbon output, as he claimed in 2019, but flight logs indicated that his family’s private jet spent over 20 hours in the air from February of last year to January — culminating in an estimated 116 metric tons of carbon emissions. 

For comparison, a March 2018 report from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that the typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. That calculation assumed a car that drives around 11,500 miles per year with a fuel economy of about 22.0 miles per gallon.

As Fox News previously noted, the Kerry family owned a private charter jet company from which the longtime Democrat appeared to benefit financially. As late as 2013, his executive branch personnel financial disclosure showed Kerry owning “over $1,000,001” in assets for the charter company Flying Squirrel LLC through wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune.

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Kerry’s financial disclosures from 2009-2012 also showed that amount. In his 2013 disclosure, the former secretary of state reported between “$50,001-$100,000” in rent and royalties for the company. That figure was over $1 million in his 2012 form and between $100,001-$1,000,000 for 2013. Other disclosures showed rental income of over $1 million for 2011, “$100,001-$1,000,000” for 2010, and “$100,001-$1,000,000” for 2008.

Within just weeks of assuming power, the Biden administration had already cost American jobs by revoking the federal permit for constructing the Keystone XL pipeline. TC Energy, the company that owns the pipeline, warned on Inauguration Day that doing so would “directly lead to the layoff of thousands of union workers.” Rob Darden, CEO at Distribution Contractors Association (DCA), similarly said completing the pipeline “would have created 10,000 good-paying American union jobs.”

Sam Dorman is a reporter with Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @DormanInDC or at facebook.com/SamDormanFoxNews