Branson challenges U.S. to fight global warming

By Kyle Peterson

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Billionaire entrepreneur and environmentalist Richard Branson is putting his giant green footprint on global aviation and he wants the White House to follow his example.

The blond, goateed media darling on Tuesday said his Virgin Atlantic Airways airline has entered a partnership with Boeing Co. to cut pollution by Virgin's planes. Virgin said it would buy 15 Boeing 787-9 jets, which are touted as more fuel efficient that rival planes.

The order, worth about $2.8 billion (1.4 billion pounds) at list prices, marks the start of a program by Branson and Virgin Atlantic to reduce fuel consumption as well as cut aircraft emissions. The carrier also plans to hold a biofuel demonstration with one of its aircraft in 2008.

Branson said the United States, the world's leading source of gases like carbon dioxide, must do more to cut its emissions. Experts say carbon emissions are driving global warming.

"I think the U.S. government has not taken the role in the last eight years," Branson told Reuters after a press conference at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

"The world is much more damaged as a result," he said.

Branson, whose sprawling Virgin empire includes a stem cell storage bank and a commercial "spaceline," is well-known as an environmental activist.

In February, Branson announced a $25 million prize for the first person to come up with a way of scrubbing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.