Prince Charles criticized over private jet

LONDON, April 26 (UPI) -- Britain's Prince Charles is weakening his environmental stance by using a private jet for a European tour, an official says.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary Norman Baker said the prince was ill-advised to use a private jet to fly himself, along with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and 10 staff members on an environmental issue promotional tour, The Daily Mail said Saturday.

"Prince Charles seems not to realize that he enormously weakens his case for tackling climate change by his own profligate and careless habits," Baker said, referring to the jet's estimated carbon footprint of 52.95 tons as a result of the tour.

"It is deeply unattractive to have somebody lecturing you on climate change when they are one of the greatest emitters of carbon themselves."

The average person's carbon footprint, or total greenhouse gas emissions, for a single year is 11 tons, experts say.

Charles, Prince of Wales, was scheduled to begin his tour Saturday and his travels will include four flights totaling more than 2,200 miles.