“Billionaires, world leaders and pop stars,” Newsweek notes, are headed to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the annual World Economic Forum. And all will be arriving in style:
Over the course of this week, approximately 1,700 private jets are expected to fly into the region, resulting airport traffic increasing by 10% which means that landing spots are in short supply.
Parking, in other words, will be at a premium. So much so that the Swiss Armed Forces have even opened up one of their military air bases to try to accommodate the rich folks’s transportation.
Among the billionaires who will have a chance to enlarge upon the price of rice is former Vice President Al Gore. But he won’t be there to weigh in on terrorism or economic inequality, which will be the central focus for most of the guests. Instead Gore will be there to emphasize the importance of tackling climate change “and pop star Pharrell Williams who will discuss how to make fabric from recycled plastic.” Oh, goody: a show and tell.
Newsweek, of course, gleans over the sheer and utter hypocrisy of Gore delivering one message and living another. Maybe instead of attending the event, he should email his remarks to the conference, also urging the fat cats bent on attending to charter a plane and fly there together.
