On May 1 at a ceremony at the Old Manse, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that several Concord area landmarks including Minute Man National Historical Park, Walden Pond, Orchard House, Robbins House, Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and several nearby landmarks are now, as a group, one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Why? The proposed private jet hangar expansion at Hanscom airport.
Minuteman NP receives over one million visitors annually, one quarter from outside the U.S. People come here for the immersive historical experience unique to this area and for the iconic reminders of the start of America’s democracy. This unique experience is already sullied by Hanscom’s 38,000 annual private jet operations roaring over the park and spewing ultrafine particulates. The proposed expansion would add 6,000 flights.
Private jets are the most carbon-intensive form of travel per passenger mile. Less than one percent of people in the world stand to benefit from this expansion yet the carbon impacts affect all of us. The average private jet flight carries 4.5 people, takes 2.5 hours, and as often as not is to a luxury destination and cancels out four years of driving an electric car instead of a gas car.
Nothing is protected if the climate isn’t. Stopping this expansion should be one of the easiest litmus tests for whether the government will take action on climate change. If our democracy can’t protect the places that gave it the life it has today, how can we hope that it will protect us anywhere?
What can we do? You can go to The National Trust website to sign a petition to Governor Healey and DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, urging them to stop the expansion of Hanscom airport, protecting our historic sites and ultimately us.
Janet Rothrock
Annursnac Hill Road