Earlier this year, Dallas-Ft. Worth declared itself the largest carbon-neutral airport in the world. The accreditation doesn?t include the carbon emissions from the airplanes that use it. | Poulides/Thatcher via Getty Images

Flight shaming should be directed at officials building fossil-fuel infrastructure, not passengers During the 12-day travel period around this Thanksgiving holiday, a record-breaking 31.6 million passengers are expected to fly on U.S. airlines?a 3.7 percent increase over 2018.
Airports are bracing for even bigger crowds than last year?s record-high numbers, as airlines warn passengers about long lines and excruciating waits. This was, of course, by design: this year, U.S. airlines added an estimated 859 flights per day to the peak Thanksgiving travel days. Now compare the U.S. Thanksgiving travel experience to what?s happening at European airports. The overall number of people flying in Europe is down over last year. Dutch airline KLM is encouraging potential passengers to fly less to help reduce emissions. The CEO of Air France said the industry isn't doing enough to combat climate change. Countries are discussing banning private jets and even inventing new phrases like ?flight shaming,? causing passengers to reconsider how they travel.

The debate about how bad flying really is, from an emissions perspective, has consumed the conversation about personal carbon footprints over the past year. The aviation industry is responsible...