May 8th 2024 Action Alert:

DEIR deadline extended! Keep Comments coming! LOTS more updates!

Enclosed you'll find:

 

ACTION - Keep your DEIR comments coming!

  • Comment period extended to June 14th on developers’ Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR)- send yours ASAP
  • New tools and talking points available to aid in your public comments

UPDATES
 

ACTION

Keep your Comments coming! Click here to get started.

Closing in on 60% of our comment goal—thank you for your incredible response to our call to action– and keep your comments coming!

 

Though the period has been extended, it's better to send sooner rather than later to make sure your comments are read and not just counted.

Take a Video Tour of the DEIR Comment Toolkit

We've created a Loom video walking you through the entire toolkit to help ground you before diving in. Watch it here (You can find the playback speed settings below the play button.)

SPJE Zoom "Office" Hours for Comment writing support

Feeling stuck? Have questions? Want to just set aside time to write your comment with the support of others around you?

Every Wednesday at 6PM and Thursdays at noon, SPJE staff will be on Zoom ready to help you write and submit a stellar comment on the developers' DEIR.

RSVP here for Wednesday at 6PM and here for Thursday at noon.

 

All are welcome!

Important New Talking Points to include in your Comment–

The developers plan to combine the last phase of the state MEPA review with the first phase of the federal NEPA review – thereby truncating and fast-tracking the NEPA review. This fast-tracked combo approach is dependent on concurrence between the FAA and EEA Secretary Tepper.

 

In addition the DEIR states that, based on initial consultation, the FAA has determined that only a basic NEPA Environmental Assessment (EA) is needed for this project, not a full NEPA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This suggests that the FAA has already decided that the project will have a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), so an in-depth EIS is unnecessary.

 

How is this possible? Easy! By accepting the developers’ unsubstantiated claims that their project will reduce ferry flights, decrease overall flights, and decrease GHG emissions – and by dismissing the public environmental review processes.

 

Tell Secretary Tepper in your comment that the public urges her to refuse the
MEPA / NEPA combination review and asks her to urge the FAA to conduct a
full-scale EIS review under NEPA.

 

See this new Talking Point under Omissions in the DEIR Comment Toolkit. Our toolkit is frequently updated, so be sure to check back! You can always submit more than one comment if you have more points to make.
 

UPDATES

In the News --

On May 1st the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that Minute Man Park, Walden and Nearby Landmarks were one of “11 Most Endangered Historic Places in the U.S.” due to the threat of private jet hangar expansion at Hanscom.   The National Trust’s designation elevates our campaign to stop the expansion to a national level, opening the way for engaging our Congressional representatives for their support.

 

As a first step, please click on the link above to sign the National Trust’s Saving Places petition to US DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg & Governor Healey urging them to stop the expansion.  (Note: It’s ok to sign this petition, even if you’ve already signed ours.)  You can also include this new designation of national significance in your DEIR Public Comment.

 

Hear remarks at the May 1st Announcement Ceremony by actress and humanitarian ambassador Ashley Judd and historian Douglas Brinkley, among others, emphatically supporting our cause to stop private jet expansion – also at the link above.

Published on May 4th in the Boston Herald! -- SPJE’s independent analysis refuting the developers’ data on ferry flights and GHG emissions. Excerpt:

 

“Imagine someone promising you could eat three banana split sundaes a day and lose 50 lbs. in a month, no exercise required. You’d be skeptical, right?

How about this one: Private developers proposing to double the amount of hangar space for private luxury jets at Hanscom Field claim this will reduce the number of private jet flights and reduce carbon emissions.”

 

See the independent report here.

On April 20st,  about 40 XR Boston climate activists blocked entrances at Hanscom private jet facilities and encircled the wheels of private jets to protest the expansion of private jet capacity at Hanscom or anywhere. More than 30 state police vehicles arrived in response to the peaceful protest. Twenty activists were arrested, and over 30 supporters were onsite to witness and support their actions. The group called on Gov Healey to stop the jet hangar expansion.  Their message:

 

“Extinction Rebellion condemns new fossil fuel infrastructure that will be in operation for decades, preventing us from achieving decarbonization and threatening us with runaway global heating and an uninhabitable Earth.”

 

See link above for more info and extensive news coverage of the protest.

Municipal Resolution Campaign Updates

Just passed! Muni Resolutions by Cambridge and Action!

 

Check out our new Municipal Resolution Campaign page to see the growing list of towns and cities that are passing resolutions in opposition to the proposed private jet hangar expansion at Hanscom and learn how to get your community involved.
 

Thank you for your continued engagement on this climate bomb. This comment period is a critical moment for our campaign and we applaud the hundreds of commenters. 

Sincerely,

Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere

 

P.S. Please consider donating to our campaign. This ever-growing coalition depends on ever-growing donations to succeed!
 

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