In the next few months, the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport plans to release a long-awaited final environmental impact report outlining how air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and other contentious issues will be addressed if the airport gets approval to modernize and further develop the aging aviation hub.
The airport wants to upgrade its two existing terminals and build a new terminal with up to 16 new gates, update its decades-old facilities to meet evolving aviation industry standards, and improve operational efficiency and safety for passengers and employees.
The airport’s footprint will not expand under the new proposal as existing facilities will be razed to make room for the expansion of international arrival areas. Parking lots and roadways will also get a makeover.
Since the draft environmental impact report was released more than a year ago, community pushback, led by the Stop OAK Expansion Coalition, has increased with protests at Port of Oakland board meetings. The coalition — made up of 78 environmental justice, climate, labor, public health, medical and religious groups — has organized an opposition petition and a vocal media outreach campaign.
Jane Perry of 1000 Grandmothers activist group holds up a puppet as she speaks before the Port of Oakland Commission meeting at the Port of Oakland building in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Airport officials say more than 1,000 residents, business owners and activists have submitted comments about the environmental report, mainly concerned with potential increases in poor air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and noise if the project is built.
At Thursday’s meeting of the port’s Board of Commissioners, members of the Bay Area-based activist group 1,000 Grandmothers brought towering puppets symbolizing “Mother Earth” and outlined their main opposition to the project, which focuses on greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our Earth mother is sick and she has a fever. She is out of balance and struggling to support life. Our climate is collapsing,’’ group member Peggy Merz said at the meeting. “Our children want to live, they want a healthy future with clean water and clean air, a healthy Earth that supports life.”
The grandmothers are the latest in a long line of people who have testified before the commission in opposition to the multimillion-dollar proposal to modernize and develop the airport. East Oakland residents, environmentalists, airport workers, climate activists and others have taken the podium this year to protest the airport’s plans.
“The climate crisis can no longer be denied or passed off as a hoax. Anyone who goes outside knows things have changed and are continuing to do so at a frighteningly fast pace,’’ said expansion opponent Jeff Beeman, a retired scientist. “We need to break through our complacency, denial, justifications for inaction, and our fear of economic turbulence as soon as possible or we are going to leave the next generations a horrible mess and rob them of their chance for a beautiful life.”
Colleen Liang, the airport’s director of environmental programs and planning, said the airport has already completed an inventory …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
