Kardashian Slammed for 17-Minute Private Jet Flight to Beat Traffic

Kylie Air

Look, we won't not say that Los Angeles traffic is the stuff of the devil. Still, no matter how terrible it gets, it's pretty difficult to justify opting for a 17-minute trip on a private jet over sucking it up for a 45-minute drive.

Kylie Jenner, "self-made" billionaire of Kylie Cosmetics and general Kardashian clan fame, has come under fire for doing exactly that. Last week, Jenner posted a luxe Instagram photo of herself and her partner, rapper Travis Scott, holding each other in front of two massive private jets, complete with the caption: "you wanna take mine or yours?"

A few days after the picture was posted, the Twitter account @CelebJets — created by the same teen who tracks Elon Musk's flights — revealed that according to public flight records, Jenner's jet had recently flown for less than 20 minutes.

The collective KarJenner Instagram presence is nothing short of constant flexing. But as fires rage, glaciers collapse, and temperatures rise around the world, this particularly short flight seemed to strike a nerve — the Internet was quick to label Jenner a "climate criminal," ultimately sparking larger questions about climate accountability, personal responsibility, wealthy inequality and more.

Climate Criminal

Instagram users took to the comments to denounce the star, vocally outraged by the apparent lack of individual care for the environment.

"Why do I have to limit my meat consumption and use paper straws while the 1 percent gets to pump tons of carbon into the atmosphere for a day trip to Palm Springs?" read one fiery comment.

"Girl what am I recycling for," asked another.

These critics have a point. In recent years, private jets have soared in popularity among the elite, and citing a report from the European Federation for Transport and Environment, The Washington Post pointed out that private jets are between five and 14 times more polluting than commercial air travel, not to mention 50 times more environmentally destructive than trains.

Again, no one's arguing for the hell of LA traffic. But parts of the world are literally on fire, and without collective action — key word collective — there's little hope for our Pale Blue Dot. As another Instagram commenter put it: "This isn't the flex you think it is."

READ MORE: Kylie Jenner gets roasted for flaunting private jet in climate crisis [The Washington Post]

More on the climate crisis: Company Providing Carbon Offsets Accidentally Sets Large Forest Fire