Last Sunday, Prime Minister Jean Castex boarded a private jet with the sole purpose of voting in the Pyérnés-Orientales. Deviating financially AND ecologically, this tour through the air has of course provoked a lot of criticism. And how did the prime minister defend himself? By recalling that he had in no way deviated from habits… As if climate change hadn’t been linked to the persistence of bad habits. So to put an end to these practices from another time, citizens launched a petition.
Posted less than 24 hours ago, the text has already collected more than 2,800 signatures and the counter is now running at full speed. His title? “Jean Castex, stop flying, make a power of attorney!” Here’s an excerpt:
“To get to his polling station in Prades on April 10, Jean Castex used a Falcon, one of the state’s jets, which emitted nearly 5 tons of CO2 for this one-way return flight, or as much as a Frenchman in 6 months!
While the IPCC affirms that we must act now to bend the curve of our emissions to preserve a habitable planet, this back and forth is outrageous! There are other solutions: he could have taken the train or, like many French men and women, given a power of attorney!
We French citizens, ask the Prime Minister to give up the plane to vote on April 24, June 12 and 19!”
The idea of this petition is not to put the current and future climate catastrophe solely on Jean Castex’s shoulders, but to remind our Prime Minister that he has an obligation to lead by example.
“We believe that the position you fulfill has an exemplary duty and that such a tour is now in conflict with this exemplary function. While the climate emergency should be in all debates and all programs and energy prices are exploding, it’s not normal for the prime minister to travel in a falcon to vote!
Jean Castex’s argument does not hold. The Prime Minister had justified his theft with this sentence (on RTL† “I used the usual rules that apply to the Prime Minister “: To understand: “We’ve always done it this way and I don’t see why it should change”the kind of reasoning that led us to where we are today.
So if you want our Prime Minister to use the power of attorney instead of flying, you can sign this petition.