Tag Archives: Air force

WI State Journal, Hubbuch: Future noise concerns could scuttle housing along planned transit corridor

Chris Hubbuch | Wisconsin State Journal 

original link

 

useful links:

Alders for City of Madison

Dane County Board of Supervisors

Contact other elected officials – Safe Skies Website

“With its strip malls, auto repair shops and used car lots, the stretch of East Washington Avenue between Aberg Avenue and Stoughton Road shows no signs of the revitalization happening a couple of miles to the west, near Downtown.

That could soon change with the addition of a planned bus rapid transit system.

Bill Connors, who heads a coalition of real estate developers, envisions three- and four-story buildings with ground-floor retail stores below apartments, much like those that have sprung up on the Isthmus.

City plans call for high-density housing that would both provide equitable access regardless of income and support a new bus rapid transit (BRT) system that’s expected to begin shuttling commuters between the city’s East and West sides in 2024.

But with the Air National Guard expected to begin flying a fleet of new F-35 fighter jets from nearby Truax Field in 2023, this ¾-mile strip is expected to be subject to noise levels considered too loud for residential development without significant soundproofing.

The conflict has created a dilemma for leaders of a fast-growing city in desperate need of more housing: By allowing the type of high-density development that would support rapid transit, Madison could also subject thousands more people to unhealthy levels of noise.

Connors argues the market will solve the problem, as builders who don’t do enough to muffle the sound will struggle to keep their buildings full.

City Council president Syed Abbas has appointed a council workgroup to explore possible alternatives, including a development moratorium or zoning changes, in an effort to prevent a situation where poor and minority people bear a disproportionate share of the environmental impacts.

“I have to see the situation with the lens of environmental justice,” Abbas said. “If you go historically, the market decided to put all the people of color there — Black and brown folks.”

Military decision

The Air Force last year selected the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing as one of the first Guard units to fly the military’s new F-35 fighter jets.

There is disagreement on just how much louder the F-35s will be compared to the F-16s that currently fly out of Truax. But there would be more takeoffs and landings, at least initially, which would increase the overall noise exposure for those living near the airport.

 

Sign Sept 2021 Petition Against F-35 Harm

Sign here 

The people of Madison and Wisconsin say…
“That the F-35 is a first strike, offensive weapon designed to carry the most dangerous weapon in our nuclear arsenal, the B61-12 guided nuclear bomb. By virtue of housing the delivery vehicle for this nuclear bomb and training pilots to fly it, Madison becomes a target.

That the F-35 project will have a disproportionately negative impact on low-income people, people of color, and children. The Air Force has admitted this in its own Environmental Impact Statement.

That there will be an expected 135% increase in CO2 emissions. Long-term exposure to CO2 creates breathing complications and respiratory illness, decreased cognitive decision making and problem-solving, and heart disease.

That Truax Field will require more PFAS and chemicals to put out an F-35 fire, compromising the safety of Madison’s drinking water, which is already severely, and possibly irreversibly, contaminated.

That this project will cost taxpayers $1.7 trillion over its lifetime, and more than $30,000 per hour to fly one F-35.

Therefore, with all these concerns in mind, we call on you, our senator, to reverse your support of the deployment of the F-35 at Truax Field. We also ask that you pursue a new mission for the Air National Guard at Truax, one that aligns with our humane values of peace, equity, sustainability and overall concern for the health and security of our residents.

Pro-Peace and Pro-Justice Letter to Senator Baldwin August 2021

August 22, 2021

Dear Senator Baldwin

You are our Senator, representing us in congress.  We have supported you in the past, but it is getting more difficult because for many years now we believe you are not representing us in your votes promoting militarism.  Militarism, as Martin Luther King Jr. stated, is one of the triple ‘evils’, along with racism and excessive materialism, that harm our American society.  As you know, the U.S. government spends more on militarism than the next 11 countries combined. We would like the money we spend on militarism moved to spending on human needs, such as health care, housing, food, education, and a green energy economy.

Therefore, for our continued support we ask that you commit to:

Lowering the 2022 spending from the 2021 present military budget of 740 billion dollars, over 60% of the total US discretionary budget.  It is against  our values when the Department of Defense gets more of our taxpayer dollars than all the other departments of our government, education, health, housing, State, etc. combined.

Withdrawing your advocacy and support for the F-35 being based in Madison.  This plane, a major polluter of the environment, air, water and noise, is considered by many military experts a “boondoggle”, too big to fail.  Madison and Wisconsin residents have made it clear they do not want it. 

Stop supporting increased funding to the largest industrial polluter in the world, the US military.  In a world on the brink of climate destruction, we must lessen our support for major polluters.  War is nonsustainable and only leads to more wars with destruction to continue.

Supporting more jobs in education, clean energy and health care over military jobs.  We know that “1 billion in military spending creates approximately 11,200 jobs, compared with 26,700 in education,16,800 in clean energy, and 17,200 in health care.” https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/economic/economy/employment  

We will gather in front of your office on the square on Sept. 11, 2021 at 10:00 am to hear your response to these demands.  We would like you or your representative to be present and show us that you hear us and will represent us.  We wait for your response on 9/11 at the Madison Farmers Market, a day we remember the terror of 9/11 and also celebrate sustainability.

Sincerely,

Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars

joyfirst5@gmail.com 608 239-4327

March to Oppose the Military Industrial Complex at Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin

Mobilization to protest F-35s at Truax – June 26 at 2pm
see you at Madison College K2 parking lot

JOIN US TO PROTEST F-35 FIGHTER JETS

Follow this link to Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin website.  Sign up for updates there.
Mobilize at Truax: F-35s won’t let us thrive – June 26

 

Start gathering at 2:00 pm, Madison College parking lot, for information, music & lyrics. Head to Truax gates – for speakers and follow-up actions.

More at Safe Skies Website

F-35 fighter jets are not just a local problem. In addition to endangering the health and safety of residents in neighborhoods where they are based, they represent the worst of government wasteful spending, profits to private weapons manufacturers despite faulty products, and harmful foreign policy, distributing F-35s to other countries (at US taxpayer expense), thus encouraging the use of force over diplomacy.

Now that it is safe for most of us to gather in person, it’s time to pull together to create more awareness and demand NO F-35s.