• SAMP Comments: Can you hear me now?

    I’ve eavesdropped on quite a number of Sustained Airport Master Plan EIS scoping comments and I’m struck by how high-minded most of them are. They cover the big-ticket items of noise, pollution, schools, property values, crime, etc. But I want to remind you that you can (and should) also comment on the smaller annoyances that
  • SAMP: We’ve had our Open House. Now what?

    OK, so we had our Open Houses, kids. So what’s the next crisis to react to? Sorry to sound snarky. I do believe all these current issues matter. And I applaud everyone in the community and government who are reacting to them. Well done. Really. (At some point I have to develop the nerve to
  • The Race For State Representative 34th District

    If you live in the 34th District, I urge you to contact both Joe Nguyen and Shannon Braddock and share your knowledge and your concerns about the airport. It is a sad fact that most of our state politicians know very little about the problems that beset residents of our region and could care even
  • Real Sustainability

    So the past couple of days I’ve been ‘slumming’–attending the Des Moines ‘Ad Hoc’ Aviation Committee meeting and then a Burien City Council Meeting on Monday. And then the last StART meeting on Tuesday. I’ve made no secret of my disdain for these groups but that has little to do with the people who are,
  • Stop asking for another airport!

    A pet peeve of mine. This is something I often see when protesters get in front of some politician for one of these three minute Public Comments. The person comes in with a seriously researched argument. They’re really making a great point. And then they reach the end and their big finish is: “And in
  • FAA Seat Suit Lacked Sincerity

    There has been all sorts of talk about the failure of this law suit to demand a higher minimum legroom standard from the FAA on commercial passenger flights. But it was doomed to fail with an agency like the FAA. And why it failed is important to understand if we are to improve the situation
  • PM 2.5s In Ulan Bator

    For the past six months there have been a ton of stories in all the big papers and magazines as well as NPR and PBS about Mongolia–Ulan Bator to be precise. Depending on who you ask, the capital of Mongolia is now the most polluted big city in the world. And why that matters to
  • Kill ‘Em With Kindness

    One of the most difficult aspects of explaining the airport to outsiders is the constant stream of positive spinning going on throughout the area. This spinning occurs on many levels and despite my using the verb ‘spin’ most of it is actually a sincere attempt to help the community. The problem is that the area
  • Now and Later

    Almost every politician or advocacy group in Puget Sound would seem to agree on some basic themes when it comes to controlling Sea-Tac Airport. And in fact, it is remarkable how similar the viewpoints are (at least in public) between almost anyone you might speak with. However there is one key difference between myself and
  • 2017-09-04

    Records Request

    Every so often we remind people that we want any documents, newspapers, web page links, sound recordings, VHS Tapes, Pan Am cocktail napkins, etc. Literally anything which has anything to do with the airport. For all intents and purposes, information you cannot find does not exist. (What’s that old line about the tree falling in