2026-03-09 00:00
This may not appear to have much to do with the airport. It is extremely unusual for any WA state elected representative to express frustration someone in their own party--particularly someone as powerful as <a href="https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/">Senator Marko Liias (D) 21st LD</a>. But Democrats have had control of the legislatures so long it is inevitable that cracks will occur. We applaud any legislator with the courage to speak out in what has become a monoculture. In Washington, there are three independent budgets. As chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senator Liias controls one of them, billions of dollars in funding, not only for the ferry system, but also aviation fuels. One of his priorities is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), a greenwashing distraction strongly supported by the Port of Seattle. There are ongoing plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in SAF processing facilities in and around his district. But despite promises from Alaska, United, and Delta, to achieve 10% usage by 2030, as of 2026 not one gallon of SAF has been used at Sea-Tac Airport.