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2009 Inauguration Expected To Generate MoreThan A HALF-BILLION POUNDS of CO2
 An Analysis By The Institute For Liberty | January 2009
CARBON BIGFOOT
 
I a ew sort days, millios will be ockig to te atio’s capitolto celebrate a truly istoric momet i U.S. istory—te iaugura-tio o Barack Obama as te 44t Presidet o te Uited States.
Amog is may campaig pledges, te Presidet-elect as made eergy ad evirometpolicy a corerstoe o is campaig, promisig America votes a “ew capter” i climateleadersip wile also callig o Americas to do teir volutary part beeft te eviro-met. But te our-day estivities surroudig is upcomig Iauguratio will produce eougcarbo dioxide to make most evirometalists tur a sickly sade o gree.Te Istitute For Liberty (IFL) utilizes data rom ederal agecies, evirometalist orgaizatios,ad ews accouts to extrapolate te estimated evirometal impact or te 2009 Iauguratio.IFL estimates tat, give te millios o people expected to coverge o te atio’s capital:
The 600 private jets expected to fy visitors to and romthe event will produce 25,320,000 POUNDS o CO2Personal vehicles could account or 262,483,200 POUNDS o CO2In the parade, horses alone will produce more than 400 POUNDS o CO2The total carbon ootprint or the Inauguration willlikely exceed 575 million POUNDS o CO2It would take the average U.S. household 57,598 years to produce a carbonootprint equal to that o the new president’s housewarming party 
Te IFL makes o criticism o tese activities ad welcomes te potetial ad muc eededecoomic stimulus tat te Iauguratio will provide.. I te same vei, Americas ad U.S.busiesses sould ave te liberty to pursue te daily activities tey eed to trive ad pros-per.. Moreover, tey sould ot ave to be lectured -- or regulated or taxed -- by ofcials woappear, at best, to coveietly orget teir ow retoric we celebratig teir success.Eergy use ad ecoomic growt go ad i ad ad ay radical evirometal policies toregulate greeouse gases will likely dampe ay eorts to jumpstart te U.S. ecoomy.Istead o pursuig puitive policies tat will amper ecoomic output ad make eergy more ex-pesive or U.S. cosumers ad small busiesses, Presidet-elect Obama sould switly udertakesteps tat improve America’s eergy security ad icrease ecoomic vitality.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ThE InSTITUTE FOR LIBERTY|JAnUARY 2009
 
Te 2009 presidetial Iauguratio evets will cover our days. Tere will be at least twodoze iaugural balls. Ofcials ave provided wide-ragig estimates o Iauguratio-dayattedace, but te most widely publicized guesses ave provided fgures ragig rom 2millio to 4 millio people o Iauguratio Day. Based o atioal averages, tose totalssuggest tat aroud 750,000 persoal veicles will trasport visitors to D.C. A estimated400,000 people will arrive by commercial air, wile 600 private jet igts are sceduled toarrive or te evet. hotel occupacy i te D.C. metro area will be stretced to maximumcapacity.Tere will be 242 orses i te parade ad a estimated 5,000 portable restrooms orevet-goers. Metro trais will be packed ad ca carry 1.2 millio people to te evet, wileMetro buses ca carry tousads more aroud tow. Cabs are expected to icrease busi-ess (ad carbo output) dramatically.Trow i ood specially ow i or te evet, exteded ours or restaurats ad bars, admyriad trikets ad t-sirts or tourists ad te 2009 Iauguratio could produce te biggestcarbo ootprit o ay special evet i recet istory.ABOUT ThE IFL ESTIMATETis estimate is ot iteded as a scietifc assessmet o te output o carbo dioxide orequivalets durig te week o te 2009 presidetial Iauguratio. We ave relied o EPAdata, supplemetal data, ad ews accouts to produce a coservative estimate. We areorced to rely o attedace estimates, averages or veicles, ad a series o simple calcula-tios.We do ot estimate te carbo ootprit o additioal ood, exteded ours at D.C. bars, orspecialty products ad services created specially or te Iauguratio. Tis sould serve tocorrect or ay overestimates i our assumptios ad is actually likely to uderestimate teull evirometal impact o te evet.Furter, we compared our fgure to te estimated carbo ootprit o te most recet U.n.gaterig o climate cage eld i Poza, Polad. Tere ofcials at te December 1-12coerece o approximately 10,000 people estimated te CO2 ad equivalet output at13,000 tos. Adjustig or te size o te evets, our estimate is just a ractio o te pro-rated estimate assiged to te Poza coerece.Takig tese cosideratios ito accout, we are cofdet tat our estimate is botcoservative ad air.
ThE InAUGURATIOn’SCARBOn FOOTPRInT
ThE InSTITUTE FOR LIBERTY|JAnUARY 2009
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