Carbon Big Foot

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2009 Inauguration Expected To Generate MoreThan A HALF-BILLION POUNDS of CO2

An Analysis By The Institute For Liberty | January 2009

CARBON BIGFOOT


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I a ew sort days, millios will be ockig to te atios capitolto celebrate a truly istoric momet i U.S. istoryte iaugura-

tio o Barack Obama as te 44t Presidet o te Uited States.

Amog is may campaig pledges, te Presidet-elect as made eergy ad evirometpolicy a corerstoe o is campaig, promisig America votes a ew capter i climateleadersip wile also callig o Americas to do teir volutary part beeft te eviro-met. But te our-day estivities surroudig is upcomig Iauguratio will produce eougcarbo dioxide to make most evirometalists tur a sickly sade o gree.

Te Istitute For Liberty (IFL) utilizes data rom ederal agecies, evirometalist orgaizatios,ad ews accouts to extrapolate te estimated evirometal impact or te 2009 Iauguratio.IFL estimates tat, give te millios o people expected to coverge o te atios capital:

The 600 private jets expected to fy visitors to and romthe event will produce 25,320,000 POUNDS o CO2

Personal vehicles could account or 262,483,200 POUNDS o CO2

In the parade, horses alone will produce more than 400 POUNDS o CO2

The total carbon ootprint or the Inauguration willlikely exceed 575 million POUNDS o CO2

It would take the average U.S. household 57,598 years to produce a carbonootprint equal to that o the new presidents housewarming party

Te IFL makes o criticism o tese activities ad welcomes te potetial ad muc eededecoomic stimulus tat te Iauguratio will provide.. I te same vei, Americas ad U.S.

busiesses sould ave te liberty to pursue te daily activities tey eed to trive ad pros-per.. Moreover, tey sould ot ave to be lectured -- or regulated or taxed -- by ofcials woappear, at best, to coveietly orget teir ow retoric we celebratig teir success.

Eergy use ad ecoomic growt go ad i ad ad ay radical evirometal policies toregulate greeouse gases will likely dampe ay eorts to jumpstart te U.S. ecoomy.

Istead o pursuig puitive policies tat will amper ecoomic output ad make eergy more ex-pesive or U.S. cosumers ad small busiesses, Presidet-elect Obama sould switly udertakesteps tat improve Americas eergy security ad icrease ecoomic vitality.

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y

ThE InSTITUTE FOR LIBERTY | JAnUARY 2009


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Te 2009 presidetial Iauguratio evets will cover our days. Tere will be at least twodoze iaugural balls. Ofcials ave provided wide-ragig estimates o Iauguratio-dayattedace, but te most widely publicized guesses ave provided fgures ragig rom 2millio to 4 millio people o Iauguratio Day. Based o atioal averages, tose totalssuggest tat aroud 750,000 persoal veicles will trasport visitors to D.C. A estimated400,000 people will arrive by commercial air, wile 600 private jet igts are sceduled toarrive or te evet. hotel occupacy i te D.C. metro area will be stretced to maximumcapacity.

Tere will be 242 orses i te parade ad a estimated 5,000 portable restrooms or

evet-goers. Metro trais will be packed ad ca carry 1.2 millio people to te evet, wileMetro buses ca carry tousads more aroud tow. Cabs are expected to icrease busi-ess (ad carbo output) dramatically.

Trow i ood specially ow i or te evet, exteded ours or restaurats ad bars, admyriad trikets ad t-sirts or tourists ad te 2009 Iauguratio could produce te biggestcarbo ootprit o ay special evet i recet istory.

A B O U T T h E I F L E S T I M A T E

Tis estimate is ot iteded as a scietifc assessmet o te output o carbo dioxide orequivalets durig te week o te 2009 presidetial Iauguratio. We ave relied o EPA

data, supplemetal data, ad ews accouts to produce a coservative estimate. We areorced to rely o attedace estimates, averages or veicles, ad a series o simple calcula-tios.

We do ot estimate te carbo ootprit o additioal ood, exteded ours at D.C. bars, orspecialty products ad services created specially or te Iauguratio. Tis sould serve tocorrect or ay overestimates i our assumptios ad is actually likely to uderestimate teull evirometal impact o te evet.

Furter, we compared our fgure to te estimated carbo ootprit o te most recet U.n.gaterig o climate cage eld i Poza, Polad. Tere ofcials at te December 1-12coerece o approximately 10,000 people estimated te CO2 ad equivalet output at

13,000 tos. Adjustig or te size o te evets, our estimate is just a ractio o te pro-rated estimate assiged to te Poza coerece.

Takig tese cosideratios ito accout, we are cofdet tat our estimate is botcoservative ad air.

T h E I n A U G U R A T I O n SC A R B O n F O O T P R I n T



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P O L I C Y C O n S I D E R A T I O n SWile te Obama admiistratio is ree to celebrate as it sees ft, te extraordiarily igevirometal impact o its Iauguratio produces a troublig juxtapositio wit policieste-Seator ad presidetial cadidate Obama supported. he

Te Cap-ad-Trade Carbo Sceme

Te Obama/Bide campaig as said it wises to impose a cap-ad-trade sceme toregulate carbo dioxide ad reduce emissios by a astoisig 80 percet by 2050.Ulike a direct tax o carbo, wic would be trasparet ad allow or U.S. busiessesad citizes to pla teir budgets accordigly, a cap-ad-trade sceme is ot trasparet.It would create a giat slus ud or govermet bureaucrats wile doig little or otig

to improve te eviromet.

E P A A T T E M P T S T O R E G U L A T EC A R B O n D I O X I D E A S A P O L L U T A n T

Te U.S. regulatory structure already costs te America ecoomy more ta $1 trillio peryear. For te average small busiess (o 20 employees or ewer), tis traslates to $7,700per employee per year. A aouced rulemakig eort by te EPA would add millios omore ours o paperwork to tis burde as te departmet seeks to regulate carbo dioxideas a pollutat.

I n A U G U R A T I O n C A R B O n E M I S S I O n S D A T A

ACTIVITY UnITShOURS/ CARBOn ADDITIOnAL TOTAL CO2

DISTAnCE GEnERATED CALCULATIOnS EMITTED (LBS)

Persoal Veicles 750,000 400 miles 19.6 0.04464 262,483,200(To ad From DC) veicles roudtrip lbs/gallo gallos/mile

Commercial Air 400,000 Cicago to DC 539 215,600,000(To ad From DC) passegers roudtrip lbs/perso

Tour Buses 550,000 500 miles 0.2 55,000,000(To ad From DC) passegers roudtrip lbs/mile

Private Air 600 5 ours 21.1 400 25,320,000(To ad From DC) plaes roudtrip lbs/gallo gallos/ our

Trais 125,000 100 miles 0.7 8,750,000(To ad From DC) passegers roudtrip lbs/mile

Subway Trais 1,200,000 4 miles 0.6 2,880,000(Aroud DC) riders lbs/mile

Taxis 5,800 150 miles 19.6 0.04464 761,201(Aroud DC) taxis per day lbs/gallo gallos/mile

Metro Buses 23,460 4 miles 0.2 18,768(Aroud DC) passegers lbs/mile

hotels 95,000 2 igts 27.2 5,168,000otel rooms lbs per igt

horses 242 1.7 418mouted police lbs per day

TOTAL CO2 EMITTED 575,981,587.3



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I politicias madate tat U.S. busiesses radically limit teir emissios, te allout could bewidespread: costructio could screec to a gridig alt, trial lawyers could fle millios ogreeouse gas-related civil suits, ad may idustry may be orced to permaetly scaledow teir presece i America, sedig coutless jobs ad capital overseas. Still develop-ig atios suc as Cia maitai muc less striget evirometal stadards ta teUited States, ad busiesses ad populatios livig i tese places will cotiue to emitat icreasigly iger rates as teir ecoomies grow. Te leakage o tese emissios willeectively esure tat global greeouse gas cocetratios will ot improve. Regulatio ocarbo emissios uder te Clea Air Act could tereore result i ecoomic caos wit little,i ay, actual beeft to te eviromet.

B E T T E R S O L U T I O n S

Istead o icreasig te cost o eergy by regulatig or taxig Americas, political leaderssould eed te sayig, Drill, baby, drill. Expadig access to Americas domestic resourc-es will icrease eergy security ad provide a meas o keepig te price o oreig eergysources dow. Tis will uleas U.S. ecoomic growt istead o urter stutig output adivestmet by imposig puitive ad uproductive policies.

A B O U T T h E I n S T I T U T E F O R L I B E R T Y

Fouded i 2005, Te Istitute or Liberty iitially ocused its missio o tecology policyad atioal security issues. Its pilosopy is oe o keepig te govermet ocused o teprimary missio o makig sure our atio is sae, wile keepig it rom uecessarily iter-erig i te daily lives o Americas etrepreeurs.



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h O R S E S

We use te reported umber o orses rom Su, Lea h. ad Stewart, nikita. no. 1 Priority:Porta-Potties o te Mall. Wasigto Post. December 19, 2008. Average orse emissioswere obtaied by usig: EPA Data o Agriculture Carbo Emissios ttp://yosemite.epa.gov/OAR/globalwarmig.s/UiqueKeyLookup/RAMR69V4ZU/$File/05agriculture.pd.

P E R S O n A L V E h I C L E T R A V E L ( T O A n D F R O M D C )

We estimate te umber o veicles by takig te umber o people estimated arrivig by cari Salas, Samie. Drivig to te iauguratio? Expect delays

I-64 trafc betwee Williamsburg ad Ricmod will be eavy Ja. 19-21, Virgiia StatePolice say. Te Daily Press, December 31, 2008. We use a ractio o tat umber, as-sumig sigifcat carpoolig. We arrive at te CO2 geeratio fgure usig: U.S. EergyIormatio Admiistratio (EIA). Volutary Reportig o Greeouse Gases Program, Emis-sio Coefciets, ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/oia/1605/coefciets.tml. We urter makea coservative estimate o just 400 miles per roud trip. We get average gallos per milerom: Bureau o Trasportatio Statistics. Average Fuel Efciecy o U.S. Passeger Carsad Ligt Trucks.

C O M M E R C I A L A I R T R A V E LWe assume te average trip is rom Cicago, IL (te mai city i te Presidet-elects omestate) to Wasigto, D.C. Accordig to Terrapass, a direct igt would produce 539 lbsCO2 per perso (ttp://www.terrapass.com/carbo-ootprit-calculator/#air). We multiplyby te 400,000 expected commercial air passegers as estimated i: Serida, Mary Bet.Iauguratio Day Crowd Estimate Reduced by hal Te Wasigto Post, December 22,2008. Our coservative assumptios o average distace ad o-stop igts will serve touderestimate te likely sum.

T O U R B U S E S ( T O A n D F R O M D C )

Estimate o Tour bus passegers is rom Zogker, Brett. Mayor: DC preparig or ugeiauguratio crowds Associated Press, December 19, 2008. We multiply by te passe-ger capacity o tour buses, wic is about 55.We estimate a roud-trip total o 500 miles.We use te Wired Magazie calculator or CO2 output: ttp://www.wired.com/wired/arcive/14.05/carbo.tml.

M E T h O D S A n DC A L C U L A T I O n S



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P R I V AT E A I R T R A V E L

We assume 5 ours per roudtrip, wic at two ad a al ours eac way is similar to adirect igt rom Cicago, IL. We use te estimate o 600 plaes rom te natioal Busi-ess Aviatio Associatio. 2009 Presidetial Iauguratio Bulleti. ttp://www.baa.org/ops/airspace/regioal/orteast/2009-iauguratio.pp#tmi Accessed: Jauary 9,

2009. We cose a coservative estimate o 5 ours roud-trip. We use 400 gallos perour, wic is te bur rate o te Gulstream 550. ttp://www.jets.com/Jets_ResearcJet-sListig.aspx?Aircratname=Gulstream%20GV-SP%20(G550) We arrive at te CO2 ge-eratio fgure usig: U.S. Eergy Iormatio Admiistratio (EIA). Volutary Reportig oGreeouse Gases Program, Emissio Coefciets, ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/oia/1605/coefciets.tml.

T R A I n S ( T O A n D F R O M D C )

We assume a average roudtrip o 100 miles. To attai te umber o people usig trais,we use: Serida, Mary Bet. Iauguratio Day Crowd Estimate Reduced by hal Te

Wasigto Post, December 22, 2008. We use te Wired Magazie calculator or CO2output: ttp://www.wired.com/wired/arcive/14.05/carbo.tml.

M E T R O ( S U B W AY ) T R A I n S

We attai te umber o Metro riders usig: Serida, Mary Bet. Iauguratio Day CrowdEstimate Reduced by hal Te Wasigto Post, December 22, 2008. We use te WiredMagazie calculator or CO2 output: ttp://www.wired.com/wired/arcive/14.05/car-bo.tml.

T A X I S

We use a estimate or te umber o taxis usig: Serida, Mary Bet. Iauguratio DayCrowd Estimate Reduced by hal Te Wasigto Post, December 22, 2008. We assumetat eac will travel 150 miles more or Iauguratio activities ta tey would oterwise.We arrive at te CO2 geeratio fgure usig: U.S. Eergy Iormatio Admiistratio (EIA).Volutary Reportig o Greeouse Gases Program, Emissio Coefciets, ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/oia/1605/coefciets.tml. We make a coservative estimate o 400 miles perroud trip. We get average gallos per mile rom: Bureau o Trasportatio Statistics. Aver-age Fuel Efciecy o U.S. Passeger Cars ad Ligt Trucks.

M E T R O B U S E S

We make a coservative estimate o passegers usig: Wasigto Metropolita Area Tra-sit Autority. Metro Aouces Special Iauguratio Metrobus Service Jauary 8, 2009.We multiply by 30 passegers per bus at a estimated 2 loops per our ad our miles perloop ad travelig te 17 ours aouced by Metro.



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h O T E L S

We attai otel capacity rom: Stewart, nikita; Ruae, Micael. Ca Mall Be Filled Fora Iauguratio? Te Wasigto Post, november 18, 2008. We assume two igts. Weuse estimates rom Coservatio Iteratioal o average CO2 output per igt i a otel(traslated rom tos to pouds): ttp://www.coservatio.org/act/live_gree/carbocalc/

Pages/metodology.aspx

A V E R A G E F A M I L Y C O 2

We rely o te average-amily CO2 ootprit o 5 tos per year, as provided by Coserva-tio Iteratioal. ttp://www.coservatio.org/act/live_gree/carbocalc/Pages/met-odology.aspx


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