Bill Gates on climate change: I’m another ‘rich guy with an opinion’ “” but here’s why you should listen

Bill Gates on climate change: I’m another ‘rich guy with an opinion’ “” but here’s why you should listen

Bill Gates is a philanthropist and climate change evangelist.

But he knows full well that his life as a billionaire and business tycoon also makes him "an imperfect messenger on climate change," he writes in his new book, "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster."

"I can't deny being a rich guy with an opinion," writes Gates, who is worth more than$100 billion, has a massive home in Medina, Washington (known as "Xanado 2.0") and uses a private jet (which helps him do the global work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he's said on Reddit).

"It's true that my carbon footprint is absurdly high," Gates writes in his new book.

"I own big houses and fly in private planes “” in fact, I took one to Paris for the climate conference “” so who am I to lecture anyone on the environment?" he writes.

Gates says he's long felt guilty about his high emissions, but "working on this book has made me even more conscious of my responsibility to reduce them," he writes. "Shrinking my carbon footprint is the least that can be expected of someone in my position who's worried about climate change and publically calling for action."

(Gates' disproportionate consumption of carbon-emitting fossil