The granddaughter of one of the co-founders of Disney is apologizing for her past use of her family’s Boeing 737.
As part of the “Proud to Pay More” report, Abigail Disney described that she felt guilt when she considered the environmental impact of her solo cross-country flight.
“Perhaps one of the greatest luxuries that I had in life, though, was my family’s private Boeing 737,” she began. “I have fond memories of fun times with my family on board our jet, but as it happens, my strongest and clearest memory of my family plane is actually not so fond.”
“Nearly two decades ago, I used the jet to fly alone from California to New York. As I strapped myself into the aircraft’s queen-sized bed for some shut-eye, I had an uncomfortable epiphany: this was wrong,” she said. “As I crossed the continental US, I was dumping untold amounts of toxins and pollutants into the air, and for no other reason besides my own selfish convenience.”
Abigail Disney is the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, who founded The Walt Disney Company with his brother, Walt. During an interview in 2019, she said she had given away $70 million over 30 years – reducing her personal net worth to $120 million, per Business Insider.
Disney said she gave up flying privately and made other lifestyle changes “in an effort to protect the environment.” She wants other ultrawealthy people to do the same.
“Experts agree that climate change is being disproportionately driven by the richest 1% around the world. Their outrageously extravagant lifestyles – replete with private jets, superyachts, gas-guzzling hot rods, helicopters, and (for a lucky few) private space rockets – are the reason why we’re seeing temperatures rise, ice caps and glaciers melt, natural disasters increase in frequency and intensity, and sea levels rise,” she wrote.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that our planet is healthy and habitable for future generations,” Disney added. “In my unique case as a person of wealth, I can only fulfill this responsibility if lawmakers strengthen their resolve to tax me more.”
The group behind “Proud to Pay More” advocates for the international government to raise taxes on citizens with extraordinary wealth. They warn that it is the only way to prevent global social, environmental, and economic crises.
“There is a clear social, economic, ecological, intergenerational, and democratic need to address extreme economic inequality,” the report states. “And yet political leaders have failed to take action on the simplest of solutions: raising taxes on the ultra-rich.”
Other wealthy individuals have also committed to the “Proud to Pay More” pledge, including philanthropist Venkat Krishnan N, former BlackRock managing director Morris Pearl, Boehringer Mannheim heiress Marlene Engelhorn, and Executive Vice President of U.S. Healthcare for Walgreens Boots Alliance John Driscoll.
