The less than 400 kilometer air travel that PSG has made to Nantes continues to be talked about in France excessive use of flights in the midst of an energy and environmental crisis.
After the body of the capital was questioned about the ecological cost of this means of transport when there are high-speed trains that travel the same route in two hours, both the coach Christophe Galtier like your star Kylian Mbappé They have been at the center of the controversy for taking it gracefully when consulted by a reporter. the outrage It reached the government, which responded harshly.
Everything happened on Monday evening in a press conference before the match that the team of Lionel Messi and associates will play this Tuesday against Juventus for the start of the Champions League.
First, the technician was surprised by “an extraordinary question” from reporter Paul Larrouturou of the LCI media, who mentioned the controversy and read a tweet from the director of the intercity division of the French railway company SNCF.
“Paris-Nantes is less than two hours by TGV”, had raised businessman Alain Krakovitch, in reference to a high-speed train. And he added: “I insist on my proposal to offer PSG a TGV adapted to its specific needs, for our common interests: safety, speed, services and eco-mobility”.
That message was accompanied by one of the viralized videos in which the campus appeared on board the plane making a journey of less than 400 kilometers. To which the reporter, after reading the message, asked the DT: “Is this a problem you are asking yourself? Have you discussed it with your players?”
Immediately, Mbappé looked at his coach and couldn’t help but laugh. The same thing happened with Galtier who took it as a joke. After twelve seconds in which he was unable to contain the laughter, the technician slipped: “Excuse me, I didn’t expect that question.”
What followed was a laconic message, not without irony: “To be honest, this morning I spoke to the company that organizes our trips to see if we can travel by car with a candle“.
The video of the moment quickly went viral on social media and started causing a stir in France with negative reactions.
Government criticism
Bruno Le MaireFrench Minister of Economy and Finance, came out at the crossroads for what happened at the conference, remarking it “it was the most inopportune time to laugh”. And he stressed: “I think we all have to take climate change seriously.”
In an interview with the BFMTV channel, Le Maire stressed that Galtier’s response “is out of place” and added to the first negative reactions from other members of the government, such as the Minister of Sport, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra: “Mr. Galtier , has accustomed us to more relevant and responsible responses, shall we talk about it? “
“But how are you going to answer? Wake up guys. This is Paris”, added the mayor of Paris, the socialist Anna Hidalgowhich applies a policy to combat climate change in the capital.
The Minister of Sport had given his support to the SNCF’s proposal to transport football teams by train within France and provided a Spanish example to justify it.
Speaking at the radio station “France Info”, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra referred to the “collaboration that exists between Real Betis and Renfe”, the main railway transport company in Spain, with which the Sevillian team has obtained preferential rates for the players. , the personal trainer and their managers during their train journeys in Spain.
In harmony with the NGO “Attac”, which had criticized Lionel Messi in the midst of a campaign on social networks against private flights, the minister insists on the need for a change to reduce the carbon footprint in sports.
Under the title “The ultra rich destroy the planet”Attac noted that “from June to August, Lionel Messi made 52 flights in his private plane, or 1,502 tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide). That’s as much as a Frenchman in 150 years.”
The Minister of Transport, Clemente Beaune, had put this debate back on the agenda in mid-August, indicating that he was studying some kind of regulation for private air flights, adding that “the most efficient thing would be for this to be agreed at the European level”. In any case, no specific measure has yet been formalized.
The controversy over private jets
Controversies over the use of private jets are recurring in France, such as when former Prime Minister Jean Castex used one in April to vote in the first round of presidential elections, but the pressure has increased since the offensive began. Russian in Ukraine.
As European Union (EU) countries prepare for a boreal winter that will end without Russian gas, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday again called on the French to “save energy” to avoid “rationing” or “cuts”. “Of electricity.
Supermarkets and distribution chains have already pledged to turn off illuminated signs at night, companies must keep their doors closed if they have air conditioning and citizens are called upon to moderate its use.
But the eyes are also on personalities and on how they participate in this “general mobilization” to reach the goal set by the liberal Macron of 10% energy savings compared to a period without crisis to be able to face the winter.
And, in a context in which the fight against climate change is a priority policy. For example, France has limited scheduled flights between two French cities located to less than two and a half hours by train, as in the case of the Paris-Nantes route.
Source: Clarin
