Celebrity 'Carbon Criminals' Named & Shamed

A programme on BBC2 last night revealed the environmental effects of celebrities’ globe-trotting habits. Amongst those named and shamed was Simon Cowell who is a big fan of the private jet and has been reported as saying he prefers them because the food and drink is better and he can smoke at 36,000 feet.

His friend and colleague, Sharon Osbourne is another star who can't resist the lure of the Lear jet. She has borrowed a jet from Simon Cowell and they head up a contingent of stars whose use of private jets has turned London into a world capital of private jets.

The latest accessory is a Versace private jet. For £10million or so, Donatella Versace will fit out private jets for the rich and or famous with her trademark leather sofas, for £100million she will create a Versace-clad 747.

David Beckham is about to head off to LA where his globe trotting will really push up his carbon emissions. Each flight he's taken from Madrid to London emits over 450kg of carbon. Over a year he's probably emitting 15,000kg.

Victoria Beckham's autobiography was called Learning To Fly. During the World Cup, travelling to Germany, her plane was grounded. So at a cost of £21,000 she travelled by private jet. The emissions from that journey would equate to what many people would emit in a year.

Over in the US, Tom Cruise is so disliked by the eco-lobby he has been dubbed "Emissions Impossible". He is reported to own three private jets – including a recent $20million purchase for wife Katie Holmes.

John Travolta once starred in a movie about bringing industrial polluters to justice. But in real life he has probably got the biggest carbon footprint of any Hollywood star. He parks his personal Boeing 707 on his front lawn – next to his three Gulfstream jets and a Lear jet. Rather appropriately, he has called his home "Jumbolair."

One celebrity saint is Cameron Diaz who is known for her passion for green issues. She owns a Toyota Prius and on location she offsets all her film and television work. She also fronts a website called Act Green with Gwyneth Paltrow where she promotes the work of the Concerned Scientists Of America.