A plan to expand a Massachusetts airfield to accommodate private jets is garnering pushback amid accusations of greenwashing, according to the CommonWealth Beacon.
The Massachusetts Port Authority has been working for years to expand Lawrence G. Hanscom Field with 17 new hangars. Opponents have decried the atmospheric pollution caused by private jet travel, while the Authority has claimed that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) would help cut emissions.
"SAF won't help the Commonwealth reduce emissions. Period. It will not scale at the pace of climate change," said Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies, per the CommonWealth Beacon. "It is a diversion of money and attention in this moment."
Airlines have been eager to tout sustainable aviation fuel innovation as a solution to growing emissions, though the credibility of some of their claims has been called into question.
Luxury air travel generates a massive amount of pollution, given how many people use it. One study suggested it would take 207 years for the average Amazon employee to emit as much as CEO Jeff Bezos' two private jets. Emissions like these exacerbate destructive floods, droughts, and heatwaves. The aftermath of these patterns, in turn, incurs agricultural, housing, ecological, and other costs.
While governments need to hold the elite accountable for their damaging travel habits, individuals can choose low-impact travel options, such as commuter rail. These can help mitigate the worst impacts of climate shifts.
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Many Massachusetts politicians see the inherent hypocrisy of supporting private jet travel in their own backyard and have openly opposed it.
"There is no way you can put in a whole bunch of essentially garages for private jets and still claim ever again, at least in the living memory of those of us in the room, to be concerned about climate. This is it. This is the inflection point for [the Port Authority]," said Sen. Michael Barrett during a State House briefing, per the CommonWealth Beacon.
"It's a matter of political will," said Rep. Carmine Gentile. "Massachusetts has pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2050. How can we take that goal seriously if we greenlight projects like this? We can't."
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