Photo credit: William Lopez from Pexels
by David M. Sykes, Vice Chair, The Quiet Coalition
If you can’t stand noisy aircraft and are completely fed up with Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen air transportation modernization, the agency has announced a public comment period “on the scope and applicability of research initiatives to address aircraft noise” in the Federal Register. Here’s your chance to inform the FAA’s research programs on FAA’s noise policies by helping to “improve the understanding of the effects of aircraft noise exposure on communities.”
Right now is the time to speak up because president Biden’s incoming Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, to whom the FAA reports, will likely pay attention to your complaint precisely because the outgoing Secretary, Elaine Chao, wife of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, paid little attention to the issue.
Answering the FAA’s call for comments is just one of several things you can do now to make a difference as the agency adapts to new leadership in the White House. Be sure to mention that aviation noise is the “canary in the coal mine” signaling the presence of serious air pollution that jet aircraft leave behind them.
It’s essential to let Biden’s climate team, of which Buttiegieg is a member, be reminded that noise pollution and air pollution are symbiotically related.
