Obama vs. the travel industry
July 22nd, 2010
Air Force One
On Tuesday, President Obama urged federal government employees to cut back on business travel in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The president wants the federal government, now the largest energy consumer in the country, to cut its emissions from indirect sources like commuting and business travel by 13 percent by 2020.
That sounds fair enough, but the announcement did not sit well at all with the travel industry.
On Wednesday the U.S. Travel Association fired back, calling Obama’s effort to curb government employee travel “short-sighted and counter-productive…. and will further economic decline at precisely the wrong time for the more than two million Americans whose jobs depend on business travel.” (Read the full statement here.)
Michael McCormick, executive director of another travel trade organization, the National Business Travel Association stated, “President Obama’s recent statements calling for a reduction in government travel are troubling for two reasons. First, they are part of a pattern of negative and misguided comments from the Administration that hurt the travel industry at an incredibly challenging time. Second, they seem to imply that cutting travel is the goal. The goal should be to use travel as cost-effectively as possible to meet the needs of the United States…”
On Thursday, perhaps as a way to hold out an olive branch to the beleagured travel industry, the President announced the he and his family would be vacationing on the Florida Gulf coast in August.
Who is right here? Should we be cut back on business travel to reduce emissions? Or should we encourage business travel to aid an ailing travel industry that’s just now starting to recover? Please leave your comments below!
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Tax dollars going for unnecessary travel? Sure, let’s do it. And all Federal employees should have new American cars as part of their compensation plan each year. Oh, and the cars should get no more than 20mpg–BP and Exxon are sure hurting right now. Anyone else want handouts? We’ll be so glad to add inefficiency to government operations and spending, just to help you. What, you want escort services to be tax deductible? And to elimianate taxes on cigarettes ’cause prople are smoking less? And buy some weapons system to replace ones that are better? Step right up!
There seems something terminally selfish and dishonest about these complaints.
The President should first clean his own house before announcing mandates for the rest of us. His seemingly daily flights on Air Force One must not contribute any greenhouse gas emissions? If all those flights are necessary wouldn’t it make sense to utilize one of the smaller, more fuel efficient planes in the Presidential livery??? After all, Nancy Pelosi gets by with a miniscule 757.