Dear Friends,
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM (with cohosts Ed Fallon and Charles Goldman)
(01:15) Airport expansions are a climate issue, with Dan Castrigano
(19:40) Charles reviews his MAGA mail;
(36:38) Christian nationalists elect US House Speaker;
(54:18) Big Carrot wages water war on small farmers, with Kathy Byrnes.
[My recent interview on KCCI TV 8 – the only local station to provide balanced coverage of the proposed Des Moines airport expansion.]
No matter where you live, the ballot you fill out on November 7 will impact the climate crisis. Maybe there’s a candidate committed to serious climate action running for city council. Maybe there’s a ballot initiative or referendum with a climate impact.
Dan Castrigano with Flight Free USA
That’s the case in Polk County, Iowa. Public Measure A wants voters to approve a $350 million bond to expand the airport, which would have a resoundingly negative climate impact.
I’ve never been good at sugar-coating my message, so to be blunt:
If you support building a bigger airport to increase air travel, you aren’t serious about the climate crisis.
From an online search: “Air travel accounts for about 4 percent of human-induced global warming, and the United Nations warns that airplane emissions are set to triple by 2050.”
The scientific imperative is clear. Instead of expanding air travel, we need to cut back and redirect public resources to low-carbon forms of transportation, especially high-speed passenger rail.
I don’t exaggerate when I say that November 7 marks a critical moment for voters in central Iowa. If you want to continue to escalate the climate crisis, sure, vote to spend $350 million on a bigger airport. If you’re serious about giving humanity a fighting chance to turn this mess around, vote no.
After voting no, since airport proponents will try to find another way to finance the expansion, insist that our leaders instead work quickly to lay the groundwork for high-speed rail from Omaha to Chicago.
There are other reasons to vote against Public Measure A:
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. A $350 million bond would be, to the best of my knowledge, the largest indebtedness ever incurred by any local government anywhere in Iowa. As R D Smith points out in a response to my opinion piece in The Des Moines Register, “Heaven forbid another pandemic, war, or other catastrophe that would plummet air travel as we have seen happen. If the Airport Authority is unable to pay its bills, the residents of Polk County would be responsible for $350 million in bonds.”
IT’S A SUBSIDY FOR WEALTHIER TRAVELERS. From another online search: “Airline travelers are over 50% more likely to have an annual household income of $100,000 or more than the average American.”
For a deeper dive into the issue — and for information about the eye-popping number of airport expansions proposed across the US — check out our conversation with Dan Castrigano of Flight Free USA, beginning at the 1:15-minute mark of this week’s podcast.
Where ever you live, consider pledging to reduce or eliminate air travel from your life at Flight Free USA.
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action!
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Ed Fallon