The dirty secret behind the billionaire space race Branson owes a "clean energy dividend" to the people of New Mexico Follow Us Question of the Day ANALYSIS/OPINION: Criticism of Richard Branson’s recent space sojourn crossed ideological and political boundaries. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders used it as an opportunity to renew his call “to tax billionaires,” while CNN’s Brian Stelter wondered if it was “ethical to be launching rockets and flying off to space and spending all this money and burning all this fuel in an age of climate crisis?” But take a look deeper and you will find one key ingredient to the public reaction missing: Hypocrisy.