Lexington Observer
During the webinar, State Senator Mike Barrett (D-3rd Middlesex) strongly challenged the plan primarily on environmental grounds, saying “I’m just channeling my constituents’ general concern — but four towns surrounding this airport are striving on their own to go ‘green’ and to be sensitive in all kinds of ways, from housing to transportation to the way they procure electric power, to be sensitive about emissions … But private jet travel, whether by corporations or by individuals, despite the improvements made in jet propulsion technology, are exceedingly emissions-heavy, per capita, per dollar, on any metric you might choose.”
Barrett characterized Massport as “intent on building its private jet business” and said he wanted “to register that foundational objection to this process going forward.” He said his “conviction that this is fundamentally misplaced” stems from an “awareness that a Massport facility in our midst will single-handedly undo much of the progress we make in terms of ‘greening’ transportation and buildings.”
Both of Lexington’s representatives in the Massachusetts House, Rep. Ken Gordon (D-21st Middlesex) and Rep. Michelle Ciccolo (D-15th Middlesex) agreed with Sen. Barrett’s comments and posed their own questions during the webinar. Gordon wondered about the actual number of current “ferry flights” and Ciccolo asked about quantifying the number of trees that will be lost and how many of the proposed hangars are already reserved or purchased by aircraft already based at Hanscom.
