Pay Up, Governor

Gov. Cuomo spent more time in the air than on the ground on his trip to Puerto Rico last weekend. How does that square with his vow “to show climate leadership”?

The gov didn’t even tour the worst-suffering parts of the island: He merely spent under three hours giving “attaboys” to relief workers from New York. For that photo op, he spent 7 ¹/2 hours in the air.

As calculated by the German firm Atmosfair (which sells emissions “offsets” to “climate conscious” air travelers), Cuomo’s roundtrip direct flight released 2,233 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger. Sources say the gov’s party had at least 10.

Aircraft account for about 2.5 percent of global CO2 emissions, and conventional jet engines also emit carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, nitric oxide and water vapor, which also adds to the greenhouse effect.

Cuomo’s climate plan for New York requires a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gases from 1990 levels and that 50 percent of electricity come from renewables by 2030. It also targets transportation, which the gov says “has now become the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in our state.”

The Atmosfair calculator suggests a $690 payment per head to climate-protection projects to salve the gov’s conscience. We’d recommend Cuomo pay that out of his $25 million campaign warchest.