Why Seattle needs to start taking wildfire smoke more seriously | The Seattle Times
This article hits on something that has needed to be talked about for a very long time. The denialism people have had about air quality cannot be under-estimated. When I worked in Detroit, people were well aware of lead emissions for decades but were willing to live with it. (Lead emissions are invisible, btw.) We wanted to have our cake and eat it too. And frankly, that’s why it took decades longer than it should have to ‘get the lead out’. That was one of those ‘conversations you cannot have.’
Here at Sea-Tac Airport, we also know (intellectually) that the invisible emissions from aircraft are bad. But wildfire smoke so bad it dims the sky? Why… it just means more beautiful sunsets, goldarnit!
At tomorrow’s Port Commission meeting, the Commission will vote to approve the final phase of SR-509–the southern entrance to Sea-Tac Airport you probably are not aware of. -Every- local, state, fed elected have supported it, though it is the key to increasing flight operations by 2034–as much as the Third Runway. And to add insult to injury, the Port’s funding contribution will come from our Property Taxes. You’re literally paying for your own air pollution. But because aviation emissions are just as invisible as lead, you don’t even get the beauty sunset goldarnit!
Frankly, we’re still too much in love with airplanes and -that- is why the progress on aviation emissions has been so slow. We want to have our cake and eat it too. And we have been far too polite.
People telling you how lovely their sunset photos are during poor air quality alerts have to be canceled. Those kinds of remarks have to become as unacceptable as outdated as any other culturally inappropriate language. Even if it was OK, five years ago? It is soooo not cool now.
But to do that, you have to have the courage to say so. You have to risk being considered ‘rude’ or be laughed at as some ‘snowflake’. And for some reason, when asked to do something, which is actually pretty risk-free, most of us would rather, you know ask if they could do something else… like maybe take a bullet. 😀
But that really is courage. And it’s the price of any positive change.
The courage to speak up.
It takes courage to make what everyone knows is right, normal.