A religious fraud watchdog group in Texas has been looking into the high-cost use of private jets by wealthy televangelists and faith healers in the state. As reported by Houston-area outlet Chron in August, the Trinity Foundation's "Pastor Planes" project has tracked 66 aircraft, 12 of which are registered in Texas and eight of which are jets. A report from the foundation indicated that several of the jets are owned by well-known religious figures.

Trinity's endeavor has shed light on the unchecked wealth and luxury habits of prominent religious leaders and groups, with many allegedly spending enormous amounts of donated funds on opulent travel while remaining shielded by faith-based tax exceptions.

"Churches, televangelists, and church pastors are getting by with more lavish lifestyles with impunity," Trinity president Pete Evans told Chron this summer.

Private jets and other forms of luxury travel are major contributors of toxic, heat-trapping pollution. Given that private jets typically carry many fewer passengers than commercial flights and other more standard forms of travel, these carbon-intensive modes of transport release far more heat-trapping gases per commuter. In fact, the European Federation for Transport and Environment in 2021 found that private jets are five to 14 times more polluting per commuter than commercial flights and "50 times more polluting than trains."

Superyachts are another high-polluting mode of transportation. According to The Guardian, Roman Abramovich's yachts alone release over 22,000 metric tons of carbon annually, "which is more than some small countries."

Even flying long-haul every day of the year or using air-conditioning to cool a mansion wouldn't come close to that level of pollution. So where are the regulations that might help to control this level of environmental damage?

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Private jets are regularly used to travel relatively short distances — distances that often could be traversed by other means. Notably, some governments are working to curb this high-polluting luxury travel by imposing bans on short-haul flights. 

Other governments have introduced additional taxes on luxury transport, but more must be done to reduce this type of travel if global rates of heat-trapping gases are going to come down significantly. Mechanisms to improve transparency around the use of private jets and superyachts, such as watchdog efforts, might help to raise public awareness.

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