Happy Earth Day, Obama!

For Earth Day, President Obama and Vice President Biden are flying, with their respective entourages, to New York.  In separate planes (as required by security).  

While the heads of state travel, the other airplanes will have to circle overhead, and planes on the ground will have to idle, again for security reasons.  

So, for Earth Day, Obama is going to burn literally tons of aviation fuel.  Couldn't he have led by example, and appeared by satellite link, or something?