THEY insist that they are trying to save the planet, but Hollywood’s green celebrities are seething over new criticism of their muddled environmental activism. The latest targets of internet watchdogs are the stars who drive electric or hybrid cars and then hop on private jets to fly around the world.

The environment has become one of Hollywood’s most fashionable causes, with stars abandoning limousines at premieres for low fuel consumption cars.

Yet several of the film industry’s biggest names have fallen foul of internet sleuths who have compared their eco-friendly driving habits with their fondness for private aircraft.

Julia Roberts was last week reported by the TMZ film buffs’ website to be the owner of a Toyota Prius, the first commercially produced car with a hybrid electric-petrol engine. TMZ also noted Roberts travelled by private jet from Chicago to Los Angeles, consuming 2,100 gallons of fuel.

Other Prius drivers with a fondness for private jets include Jennifer Lopez and Brad Pitt, whose recent private charter to Namibia with his lover, Angelina Jolie, burnt an estimated 11,000 gallons of jet fuel — “enough to take a Prius to the moon”, said TMZ.

George Clooney, one of Hollywood’s most outspoken liberal activists, owns an electric minicar called a Tango, which drives 135 miles on a full battery. But he recently took a private jet to Tokyo, a 5,500-mile trip which consumed 7,000 gallons of fuel.

Clooney’s spokesman said the actor often had “no control” over his schedule, which is dictated by studio commitments.

Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the first celebrities to drive a Prius. He was also the latest star to fall foul of green scrutiny when the New York Post reported that he flew his mother, grandmother and girlfriend from Paris to Rome in a private jet for the Italian premiere of his latest film, The Departed.

Defenders of celebrity greens argue that the attention they bring to eco-issues is worth the ideological confusion, but others are less convinced. “If they flew on regular airlines they might be forgiven,” said a contributor to TMZ. “But flying private jets makes them look like idiots.”

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