Schwarzenegger environmentally unfriendly?

From LATimes: Governor’s high-flying commute draws flak

Schwarzenegger has eschewed living in Sacramento, preferring his Brentwood mansion and traveling back and forth in his private jet. Some question his concern for the environment.

After flirting briefly with buying a Sacramento abode for his family, then living alone for a while in a 2,000-square-foot hotel penthouse across from the Capitol, the governor has decided to stay nearly every night at his Brentwood mansion.

That’s an approximately 780 mile round trip daily commute by private jet.  That’s about 3 hours of commuting.

The governor’s Gulfstream jet does nearly as much damage to the environment in one hour as a small car does in a year, according to figures compiled by the Helium Report, an online publication for buyers of luxury items.

Schwarzenegger doesn’t have to do this.  He could have moved his family to Sacramento like every other governor before him.  The rich and powerful shouldn’t get a pass because they can afford to do this.

I thought this following paragraph was kind of amusing in light of the Spitzer scandal:

The governor rarely sleeps now in the $62,000-a-year hotel penthouse paid for by a tax-exempt charitable foundation. But in the early years of his administration, Schwarzenegger spent most weeknights there, working late, receiving visitors and playing chess, former aides said.

So “playing chess” is what they’re calling it these days.