By Christopher Eliot
The proposed Hanscom airport expansion has catalyzed a long overdue recognition of the climate impact of aviation. While climate change is global, this project is in our backyard. My statements against this project are on record, but it is important to look at the larger context of aviation as a whole.
It is taken for granted that aviation is vital to the modern world. Most people marvel at the technical achievements enabling safe travel anywhere in the world. There is something magical about waking up on a harsh New England Winter day and flying to a tropical island before evening. Aviation has many tangible benefits but in the face of the climate crisis we must look hard at the cost and benefit of every aspect of the modern economy without allowing romantic preconceptions to mislead us.
During my nine years on the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission I have become aware of often overlooked problems related to aviation. Aviation has substantial and growing impacts on public health, the climate and use of scarce resources that should be widely understood and properly weighed in public discussion. Aviation is one of the top ten sources of climate change and it is widely considered to be the hardest part to fix.
The aviation industry has a plan to become climate-friendly but I believe it is not a credible plan. The industry assumes it can obtain exclusive control massive amounts of public resources that have value for many other uses. The industry assumes a place of importance that may or may not be consistent with public values.
There needs to be a robust public discussion about the core assumptions of modern aviation. Is aviation really so important that society should devote half of our agricultural land, or half of our electricity capacity to aviation? Should we just accept the fossil fuel requirements of aviation and look elsewhere to offset these sources of climate change? Should we accept aviation technology that might be less safe but more environmentally friendly? What balance of public and private investment for climate friendly aviation is wise? Should we instead work to reduce the use of aviation? People will have many answers to these questions and they should be widely debated.
These are choices about aviation that must be made. It is important for the public to widely contribute to the decision making process now, because the decisions made today will take decades to be fully deployed. With substantial public input, these choices will be made by a privileged few in the aviation industry, the FAA, and the fuel industry. Construction is already underway to implement plans designed primarily by the aviation industry that have not been widely discussed. Since these choices will deeply effect everyone, everywhere, it is important to broaden the discussion to reflect the shared values of the public at large.
Eliot, a Lincoln resident, is chair of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission. For updates on the plan to expand hangar space at Hanscom Field, see these stories in the Bedford Citizen.
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If you’re thinking about examining the core assumptions about Aviation, you should probably examine the core assumptions about Gravity while you’re at it.
I mean really, is this Chris Eliot the comedian who wrote this???