Tom Cruise will be the first person to own the Ducati Desmosedici RR, a new motorcycle valued at $72,500. This alone really isn't all that newsworthy (ooh, big Scientology lunatic Hollywood celebrity will have an expensive new toy). What caught my attention was two claims that accompanied the "news" of Tom's new ride.

Cruise, whose net worth is upwards of $250 million, is known to have an affinity for fast vehicles, including motorcycles, Porsches and planes. Some estimate the actor spent $1 million in 2006 on fuel alone.

Reports said Cruise this month bought one of his three private jets for his wife, Katie Holmes, for $20 million.

An estimated $1 million on gas and another $20 million on a private jet? Last week we learned that David Beckham is estimated to have the world's biggest carbon footprint, but it looks like Tom is gunning to take the top spot himself. President Bush may want to have Congress pass a special bill capping carbon emissions that applies to these two alone.

Not only is there the environmental angle to consider, but the sheer waste of money. I realize that Tom has substantial disposable income (to put in mildly), but I fail to see the necessity of owning three private jets. Diverting his fuel expenses alone to a cause that helps others could instead:

- Buy ducks for 33,333 hungry families, who can sell eggs and hatched egglings to pay for medicine and school tuition for children

- Provide 58,823 struggling farmers with high-quality seeds to provide food and income for their families.

- Purcahase 13,333 goats for families in Haiti and Malawi

- Provide $5 million worth of medicine to children in impoverished countries

- Buy 71,428 African girls a pair of shoes so that they can make the journey to school and receive and education

- Support organic farming in a developing country like Costa Rica. Spending $40 will provide seeds for a full semester at The School for Field Studies Center for Sustainable Development Studies. With his fuel money from last year alone, Tom could pay for 25,000 semesters.

I could keep going, but I'm sure you get the picture by now: Tom and his extravagent lifestyle are killing the environment. Funny, I always thought it would be his religion that would spell the end of humanity. However, if he continues with the same driving patterns he had last year, that should take care it first.

» NY Daily News