Washington (January 17, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), today announced the reintroduction of the Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax (FATCAT) Act, legislation that would increase fuel taxes for private jet travel from 22 cents to $2 per gallon— the equivalent of an estimated $200 per metric ton of a private jet’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions — and remove existing fuel tax exemptions for logging and oil or gas exploration.
The incoming Trump administration is on track to be the wealthiest in American history, with at least 13 billionaires tapped for roles. Many billionaire donors and friends are expected to sit on the dais on Inauguration day, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Brian Armstrong, and Sam Altman. Many of these billionaires are consistent users of private jets, the most energy-intense form of travel.
Tax revenue generated by the FATCAT Act would be transferred to the Airport & Airway Trust Fund and a newly created federal Clean Communities Trust Fund to support air monitoring for disadvantaged communities and long-term investments in clean, affordable public transportation across the country, including passenger rail and bus routes near commercial airports.
“If you look in the sky over Washington D.C. this inauguration weekend, you might see one of the many billionaires flying in their private jets to celebrate a Trump administration that is of the rich and for the rich,” said Senator Markey. “As the world burns, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are working hard to prepare new tax cuts to benefit the super-wealthy at the expense of working Americans. It is time to make billionaire fat cats pay the absolute bare minimum to fly private jets and prioritize clean public transportation.”
“Billionaires shouldn’t get a free pass to fly private and pollute while working families subsidize the bill,” said Congresswoman Velázquez. “If billionaires want to travel on private jets, they should pay similar taxes to those flying commercial. The FATCAT Act makes the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share so that we can fund environmental justice and affordable public transit for all.”
In only one year, private jet emissions from just four incoming Trump officials pumped out the equivalent of 560 years’ worth of carbon emitted by the average American. Oxfam International found that 14 American billionaires, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, have combined annual emissions just from flying in private jets equivalent to about 2,000 years’ worth of emissions by the average American and nearly 5000 years for an average person globally. The private jets owned by these 14 billionaires were in the air long enough to circumnavigate the world over 157 times.
Per passenger, private jets pollute up to 14 times more than commercial flights and 50 times more than trains, producing as much emissions as millions of cars every year in the United States.
This pollution comes at the expense of the American people. Despite their sky-high emissions, private air travel is taxed considerably less than commercial air travel. Private jets account for seven percent of all flights handled by the FAA but provide less than one percent of taxes that fund the federal trust fund for aviation and airports.
Under the FATCAT Act, these four Trump administration officials and associates would pay millions more in taxes to support air quality monitoring and alternative transportation. Overall, private jet users, the FATCAT Act would collect billions of dollars in revenue.
Trump Associates’ Private Jet Emissions (metric tons of Co2)
Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator – 3,862.67
Steve Witkoff, Middle East Envoy – 2,284.89
Elon Musk, D.O.G.E – 1,699.69
David Sacks, AI and crypto czar – 866.2
Cosponsors of the FATCAT Act include Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The legislation is endorsed by Transportation for America, Americans for Tax Fairness, Patriotic Millionaires, Oxfam America, Public Citizen, and the Sunrise Movement.
“The current tax system favors the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of average Americans. By ensuring the wealthy contribute their fair share in federal taxes, we could better fund essential public services like environmental protection and clean water infrastructure,” said David Kass, Executive Director of Americans for Tax Fairness. “It’s time that these wealthy individuals with their reckless constant use of private jets pay for their luxury travel which pollutes all of our communities. The proposed Private Jet Fuel Excise Tax, which targets luxury consumption, is a strong step toward balancing the system.”
“Private jets are the ultimate status symbol of inequality, yet their owners pay significantly less in taxes on flights than regular people flying economy class. By passing the Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax (FATCAT) Act of 2025, lawmakers would show that Congress stands with everyday Americans rather than with rich polluting billionaires,” said Ashfaq Khalfan, Climate Justice Director at Oxfam America. “To put this outrageous disparity into perspective: Elon Musk’s two private jets produce each year the same emissions as 834 years’ worth of emissions for the average person in the world. The two private jets owned by Jeff Bezos emit 2,908 tonnes of CO2. It would take the average US Amazon employee almost 207 years to emit that much. Congress must address economic and climate justice as it considers tax legislation, and this law is an important litmus test for that commitment.”
“The jetsetting of a handful of rich people is fueling the fires scorching lives and livelihoods in Los Angeles. By joining together across the country, we can make them pay us what they owe and fund the repair we deserve. Anybody taking a private jet likely has at least $100 million in the bank and can afford to pay a little more so the rest of us can survive,” said Aru Shiney-Ajay, Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement.
“The private jet class may be under the delusion that they can fly away from their responsibility for worsening the climate crisis, but Senator Edward Markey’s FATCAT bill lands just in time to correct that misimpression,” said Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen. “This bill taxes some of the most climate destructive activity of the super-rich and invests the revenues to promote public transportation and environmental justice, a double win for climate justice.”
“I love using private air travel - it is one of the coolest aspects of wealth that I have ever experienced. It’s like drinking coffee - once you start, you can’t quit! But when I learned about the outsized damage that private air travel has done to our environment, coupled with the outrageous tax breaks that Uncle Sam gives those of us who fly in our own planes, I made the decision to sell my private jet last year.
“It became clear that I could no longer prioritize my own comfort over the health of our planet and our nation. It disappoints me that most of my wealthy peers who can afford to fly privately at their convenience, but do not see fit to contribute to our country’s infrastructure by simply paying their share of taxes for the financial burden that our lavish lifestyles create.
“Senator Markey’s new bill, which would increase excise taxes on fuel used by private jets, will go a long way toward correcting this abuse of our planet’s resources. I doubt that many of my peers will stop flying private or follow my example, but if wealthy jet owners want to continue destroying our environment, the least they can do is help pay some of the costs for their egregious, self-serving habit,” said Stephen Prince, Founder of Card Marketing Services and Vice-Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires.
Senator Markey has long pushed for reducing emissions from the transportation sector. He has championed vehicle emission and fuel economy standards, such as the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. That law included then-Congressman Markey’s language that set the standard to at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020 and required the “maximum feasible standard” to be set every year. In April 2023, Senators Markey and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) celebrated the Environmental Protection Agency for heeding their calls to swiftly issue regulations to curb greenhouse gases among other pollutants for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles for Model Year 2027 and beyond. Senator Markey also supported emission reductions from ports and vessels through the Expanding Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance Program (META) Act.
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