Global Warming Hypocrites Arrive In Davos On Private Planes

1,700 Private Jets Fly to Global Warming Conference

Some 1,700 pricey, fuel-guzzling private jets flew into Switzerland carrying billionaires and world leaders to a conference taking up issues including global warming and income inequality.

The annual World Economic Forum in Davos began on Wednesday and ran through Saturday.

So many private jets delivered passengers to the airport in Zurich and two other airports that the Swiss Armed Forces for the first time opened up its Dubendorf military airport to private jet passengers, according to CNN Money.

One private jet company, VistaJet, charged between $10,000 and $15,000 per hour to use its planes. Some passengers got a free helicopter ride from the airport to Davos, a town in the Swiss Alps noted for its ski resort.

Former Vice President Al Gore was among the people scheduled to attend the conference, along with 40 heads of state, Newsweek reported, and he stressed the importance of dealing with climate change.

Other issues discussed included economic growth, geopolitics, the Internet, and gender equality.

Co-chairing the event was Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the international aid agency Oxfam, who highlighted the huge economic gap between the world's rich and poor.

A report from Oxfam disclosed that last year the most affluent 1 percent of the world's population owned 48 percent of all wealth, while more than a billion people lived on less than $1.25 a day.

Oxfam also reported that the 80 richest people on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion people.