On May 1st at the Old Manse, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that Minute Man National Historical Park, Walden, and nearby landmarks are one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Why? The private jet hangar expansion at Hanscom airport.

People come here for the immersive historical experiences unique to this area. Lexington Green in particular is a wonderful public outdoors space and an iconic reminder of the start of America’s democracy. As Paul O’Shaughnessy, President of the Friends of Minute Man National Park, put it at the May 1st event, when you’re at these historical landmarks, it’s like you’re in 1775. You can hear it. You can feel it in the air. Until a massive private jet flies overhead, and instead you hear the booming mechanical engines and breathe in the ultrafine particulates it spews, withdrawing you from the past and hauling you back to the present and our current problems. 

Already, there are 38,000 private jet operations annually at Hanscom, and yet the proposed expansion has the potential to increase private jet flights each year by over 6,000. Current flights already disrupt visitors and locals alike, and it is unconscionable to even consider increasing that number. 

In addition, private jets are the most carbon intensive form of travel per passenger mile. Less than one percent of people in the world stand to benefit from this expansion, which would drive inequitable pollution levels. Meanwhile, the vulnerable often experience the worst consequences of these emissions. Additionally, accelerating climate impacts in New England include alternating excessive rainy and dry cycles that can lead to the decay of historic construction materials like the hand-carved woodwork and glass panes found in sites like the Buckman Tavern. 

Nothing is protected if the climate isn’t. Stopping this expansion should be one of the easiest litmus tests for whether the government will take action on climate change. If our democracy can’t protect the places that gave it the life it has today, how can we hope that it will protect anywhere? 

What can we do? As Ashley Judd said, “We can pretend to care, but we cannot pretend to show up.” One way we can all show up is by going to savingplaces.org and signing the National Trust’s petition to Governor Healey and DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, urging them to stop the expansion of Hanscom airport and protect our historic sites.

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1 Comment

  1. Private jet travel is hard to justify in an overheating planet. Terrible middle finger to the rest of us.

    Rough it- fly first class!

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