How a Seattle high school student is shining a spotlight on emissions from private jets

Akash Shendure cycles or takes the bus to school with the climate on his mind. But Seattle-area high school students also want to draw attention to the carbon-intensive commutes of those who travel by private jet.

Shendure made a The website is called Climate Jets last month, which provided the 2022 carbon emissions from dozens of private jets.

He spoke to the CBC What On Earth about how they integrate data for their website and what they hope to achieve.

How did you decide to create the Climate Jet website?

I see the tracking that has been done for [the ElonJet Twitter account], and based on that I started looking for data and combining it with other data sources I found online. And I really just followed the data trail and the results were amazing.

So I decided to combine it with some interest in graphic design and make a website.

Were you surprised by what you found?

I was very surprised, not only because the emissions were so high, but also because I couldn’t find this data anywhere else online. It took about a month to complete this project but overall the data analysis was not too difficult. So I was surprised to see that it wasn’t there yet.

How hard is it to keep track of all the details you need?

One of the more difficult aspects is finding the emissions for each of the different jet models. So to find the data, because it varies from jet to jet, I had to contact a private company and request the data for educational purposes.

They sent it to me, which was great. This is one of the main sources of data we need.

What is the desired impact by sharing all this information?

My hope is to spread awareness about the emissions gap [between] Ultra rich and your average American, or people around the world. America is some of the top emitters.

So my hope is that people realize how rich people are and I hope that they can be inspired to take action, whatever it is.

What kind of response have you had so far?

I’ve gotten a lot of emails, mostly from other Seattleites, just complimenting me on creating a website. And I’ve heard many people involved in the climate movement sympathize with that message.

We reached out to several jet owners on your website. A spokesman for Jeff Bezos said he uses sustainable aviation fuel and offsets all carbon emissions. A spokesman for Bill Gates said the same – and also who has invested more than two billion dollars to drive innovation in climate solutions. What are your thoughts on that?

The website’s message is not focused on the individual as much as the larger group. I think that it is fantastic that offsetting emissions and that they invest in climate research, but… I did not use the website to focus on those who have a large environmental impact.

However, I think the general idea is: do people really need to fly in private jets these days? Even if they offset their emissions, they can still finance those emissions offsets without taking the flight.

What is your message to the private jet flyers on your list?

My message would be good offsetting, but I’m also wondering if you should take the flight. And I want to praise the people who fund climate research, I think it’s great.

You’re in your last year of high school – what do you want to do after you graduate?

My plan before this came out was that it would be a great career in academic physics research. And since it’s been published, I think my focus is still the same. But I have also seen that people are really interested in this form of data analysis, and I think I would like to pursue in the future the same form of data analysis and different ways of presenting data with graphic design.

How does it feel to have received so much attention for this project?

It feels amazing. It’s pretty crazy to me. If you told me last month that I would get the request or be in New York Times, I thought you would be crazy. So yes, it feels great.

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The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.