BOSTON (State House News Service) — In a new surge of opposition, advocates are calling directly on Gov. Maura Healey to stop the expansion of the publicly owned airfield in Bedford that holds the most private jets in New England.

Quasi-public state agency Massport has proposed adding 27 hangars at Lawrence G. Hanscom Field in Bedford, raising concerns about increased carbon emissions from private jets that serve the wealthy.

According to a coalition of local and environmental groups who call themselves Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere, the proposed airfield development would add nearly 500,000 square feet of hangar space for the 27 private jet hangars on 49 acres of land.

Those new developments could add a potential of 81 private jets to the airfield, with two to three planes per hangar -- which would triple the private jet capacity at Hanscom.

A report released Monday from the Institute for Policy Studies, a D.C.-based think tank, found private jet flights from Hanscom Field accounted for an estimated 106,676 tons of carbon emissions over an 18-month period. Private jets pollute 10 to 20 times more per passenger than their commercial counterparts, institute author Chuck Collins told the News Service, and are largely bound for places like Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Aspen, the Hamptons, Palm Beach, the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos.

Coalition advocates led by Sen. Michael Barrett, who co-chairs the committee that passes major climate bills, held a rally against the airfield expansion on the State House steps Monday. The activists then took their plea to Healey's office, delivering a petition with over 10,000 signatures.

Written by Sam Drysdale/SHNS

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