Save The Animals First, Worry About The Rest Later

Lush plant life and exotic wild animals. Formal dinners and luxury accommodations. Twenty five adventurous days in 11 different countries, all reached by private jet. Sounds like a cool vacation, sure, but also an exercise in hypocrisy by the World Wildlife Fund.

The organization, which does an admirable job protecting the world's flora and fauna from the impact of human development and global climate change seems to be forgeting the real impact of their fund raiser. Their travels will spew 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide shuttling well-heeled donors around the globe on a private jet. The WWF says the tour allows adventurous travelers -- those who can pony up the $64,950 ticket price, anyway -- to "touch down in some of the most astonishing places on the planet to see the top wildlife, including gorillas, orangutans, rhinos, lemurs and toucans." Good thing they aren't planning to visit any glaciers.

While the whole thing is way over the top, it's the private jet that really makes it a study in double standards. The jet will transport passengers on a whirlwind tour with stops in such far-flung places as the Amazon, Easter Island, Chile, Malaysia, Laos, Nepal and London, but flying the 36,000 mile route in a Boeing 757 would burn about 100,000 gallons of jet fuel and produce more than 1,200 tons of CO2. That's the same as putting 1,560 SUVs on the road for the three weeks the eco-adventurers are jetting around the world. The WWF's own carbon footprint calculator shows an estimated $44,000 to offset the emissions. Oops.

It gets even harder to believe once you read the WWF's mission statement, which states it is committed to "protecting natural areas and wild populations of plants and animals, including endangered species; promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources; and promoting more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution."