Aviatoin Conspiracy: Does Obama REALLY Care About Noise Impacts?
Bill Mulcahy
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/newsletter513.htm
Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter
#513...........................................................................................March
22, 2009 Past newsletters can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm If you want to get this
bi-weekly newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill
Mulcahy rock...@prodigy.net
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Quote of the Week: "And I think about Ty'Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from
that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina - a place where the ceilings
leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six
times a day because the train barrels by their classroom." complaint about
noise impacts on children from President Obama in a 2/25 news story
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Does Obama REALLY Care About Noise Impacts?
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As Bill Sees It (Editorial): Obama Complains About Train Noise Effect On
School Children, But What About Airport Noise? Noise activist Dr. Arlene
Bronzaft alerted me to the President Obama's comment on the damaging effects
of train noise on school children. However, he was only talking about the
fact that the teachers had to stop teaching when the trains went by, not the
health impacts from this disruption. What we need is a recognition by our
new president of the HEALTH impacts of all noise from all sources and on all
people!!! Obama "could" work to restore the funding for the EPA's Office of
Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC) who once were the people who enforced
noise regulations. Maybe instead of going through congress (they were the
people that removed funding from the office in 1980) he could issue an
Executive Order. Even if he couldn't issue and Executive Order or get
congress to fund ONAC he could his office to publicly recognize noise,
especially airport noise, as a serious health hazard. Obama would only be
addressing what more and more doctors and scientists are recognizing as a
major health problem for millions of Americans. The effort to make
enforcement of noise regulations a state issue is just another example of
corporate control of our political system.
The Noise Control Act (NCA) of 1972: Our political system actually allows
politicians to take legally take money from industries that harm the health
of Americans!!! Nowhere can the impact of our corrupt political system be
seen better then in what happened with the enforcement of the Noise Control
Act. This law, which was "supposed" to "promote an environment for all
Americans free from noise that jeopardizes health or welfare," is still on
the books but is not enforced because of the "defunding" of the EPA's ONAC
office
Aviation Lobby Starts To Pressure Obama!!! Aviation Industry Starting To
Pressure Obama!!! Now that Obama is president the aviation industry and
their political stooges are starting to pressure Obama to support their
dirty, health-damaging business. I saw a news story this week that President
Obama got criticized by the Wichita mayor for "bad mouthing" corporate jet
use. We all know how important it is to have the corporate thieves that have
brought the U.S. economy to its knees to be able to fly over our heads in
their noisy while they laugh at collecting million-dollar bonuses as their
reward. Personally, I like to look at the bright side. Riding in a small
corporate jet is about twice as dangerous as riding on a motorcycle, so a
few of the corporate pigs will be eliminated with their planes.
Unfortunately, they will sometimes take innocent people on the ground with
them.
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Atlanta: Elected Officials Avoid Community Concerns About Hartsfield-Jackson
Airport Expansion!!! Tom Nissalke was a human piñata Monday night. The
director of Atlanta's Environmental and Technical Services knew public ire
would be plentiful during Monday night's information session on airport
noise in College Park. City officials set up the meeting to tell state and
federal legislators of their concerns about proposed airport runway and
flight path changes that would bring more noise to College Park. But when no
elected officials from Atlanta showed up, Nissalke was left to absorb the
anger of frustrated residents. "It's unfair and inhuman to have to live like
this," said Gloria Wood of College Park. "I understand everything is about
money and everything is about progress. But you also have to look at us as
human beings and how we live." "That's expected," Nissalke said following
the two-and-a half-hour gathering at the Georgia International Convention
Center. "People have concerns and they want answers." Citizens were upset
about a proposal to extend runway 27R by 500 feet to 12,390 feet in length
so that it could accommodate heavier - and louder - international aircraft.
The plan also calls for new flight vectors that would send more than five
times the current flight traffic over College Park's Ward 4. Currently, 26
flights per day fly over the heavily populated area, but that number would
balloon to 156 daily should the plan be approved. Nissalke did his best to
inform the crowd of noise reductions in other parts of College Park and to
paint an optimistic picture, but the roughly 200 residents in attendance
weren't buying it. Criticism was long and loud.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/02/23/airport_noise_college_park.html
Wichita Mayor Criticizes Obama "Bad Mouthing" Corporate Aviation: WICHITA,
Kansas - Wichita's mayor is asking the President to stop bad mouthing
corporate aviation. In a letter to the President, Mayor Brewer stresses the
importance of corporate aviation, not only to Wichita but to the nation and
he invites the President to come to Wichita and see for himself. During his
February 24th address to Congress, President Barack Obama criticized
corporate CEO's who quote "disappear on private jets." Just weeks earlier he
blasted Citigroup for a near-purchase of a new plane. "Secretary Geithner
already had to pull back one institution that had gone forward with a
multimillion dollar jet plane purchase at the same time as they're receiving
TARP money. We shouldn't have to do that because they should know better,"
said President Obama. It's that type of talk that Mayor Carl Brewer says has
to stop. "We understand that he was making a statement to try and make a
point, but you have to use extreme caution because just a simple statement
can impact an entire economy," he told reporters Tuesday. In the letter to
the President Mayor Brewer writes "responsible use of business jets will
spurt our national economic recovery" and it would be tragic if that was
"lost amid the sensational news coverage of ill-advised corporate jet travel
by a tiny percentage of corporate America."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29626700/
England: Heathrow Night Flights Could Double By 2020!!! A third runway at
Heathrow could open the way to around 80 extra flights every night from as
early as 2020 - double the current number. The increases would be possible
because there are no restrictions on the number of aircraft that can land or
take off between 11-11.30pm and 6-7am. Now the 2M Group is calling for the
early morning and late night shoulder periods to be included in the new
night flight controls which are due for review in 2012. Communities likely
to be affected by extra night noise would include a large swathe of west
London as well as currently quiet areas in Buckinghamshire which would be
under the new take-off paths. The noise impact of aircraft is currently
measured over a 16-hour day which excludes the night period. The effects are
expressed as a contour showing the area within which average noise exceeds
57 decibels. Transport secretary Geoff Hoon gave BAA the go ahead to
increase annual capacity at Heathrow from 480,000 to 702,000 by 2030. But
this growth will only be possible if it can be achieved within the limits of
the existing contour. To give the airlines extra headroom, this was based on
the results for 2002 - the last year when Concorde was flying. Wandsworth
Council leader Edward Lister, speaking on behalf of 2M, said: "These 90
minutes at the start and end of the day are like a get out of jail card for
the airport operator. Whatever problems they are experiencing in
accommodating additional flights during the rest of the day, they will have
a free hand at these times.
http://www.24dash.com/news/Communities/2009-03-17-2M-Group-warns-Heathrow-night-flights-could-double-by-2020
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Important Aviation
News Stories This Week
Fears over Heathrow night flight increase
12:42pm Thursday 19th March 2009
http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/4216720.Fears_over_Heathrow_night_flight_increase/
A third runway at Heathrow could open the way to around 80 extra flights
every night from as early as 2020 - double the current number - it emerged
today.
BAA could exploit a regulatory loophole to double night flights at Heathrow,
Hounslow Council is warning.
The airport operator could be allowed to send twice as many planes in and
out of the airport between 11pm and 7am if a third runway is built, because
of the way the Government currently defines the word "night".
At present, there are no restrictions on the number of aircraft that can
land or take off between 11pm and 11.30pm and 6am and 7am.
Campaigners are concerned BAA will exploit the Government's guidelines and
squeeze an extra 80 flights into the eight-hour period between 11pm to 7am
when many residents are trying to sleep.
Today, the 2M Group of local authorities, which includes Hounslow Council,
is calling for the early morning and late night "shoulder" periods to be
included night flight controls, which are due to be reviewed in 2012.
Hounslow Council is pushing for a more permanent solution, which would be a
total ban on night flights.
Councillor Barbara Reid, the council's lead member for aviation, said: "Our
main focus at the moment is to do everything we can to stop the third runway
ever being built.
"But we are also campaigning to make Heathrow better not bigger by
introducing improvements such as a total ban on night flights.
"Night flights damage people's health, they damage the environment and they
create untold misery for local people.
"In 2006 we managed to stop Government plans to increase the number of night
flights at Heathrow, after local residents backed our campaign to say NO to
night flights.
"This shows that we can make a difference when we take a stand and make sure
our voice is heard.
"That is why we must all continue to fight any plans to increase the number
of planes using Heathrow, whether it's by building a third runway or trying
to sneak more planes into the night time period. " Opponents to night
flights have long expressed concerns that night flights re linked to health
problems such as insomnia, stress and asthma.
In 2008, a study of 5,000 people living near Heathrow and other airports,
found that night flights may be harming the health of local residents.
The study published by researchers at Imperial College found a significant
link between night-time noise around airports and high blood pressure.