(Host)
UVM Professor Saleem Ali is on extended professional leave directing a
research center in Australia but will continue occasional commentaries
that strike common themes across the miles. Today he offers some
thoughts on the current controversy over bringing F-35 planes to
Burlington.
(Ali) Having flown eleven thousand miles from
Burlington, Vermont to my current base in Brisbane, Australia, I remain
humbled by the power and value of mechanical flight. Perhaps no other
human invention in modern times has transformed global citizenry as has
air travel. And as with many other human inventions, aircraft have both
civilian and military uses and airports are often, quite literally, at
such crossroads where the two meet.
Just before my departure
from Vermont, I noted the controversy on whether or not to allow a new
series of fighter jets to be based at Burlington International Airport.
The usual rift on the matter was framed in terms of jobs versus
lifestyle and real-estate value. Now that I am living in a city which is
three times the population of the entire state of Vermont, I can
perhaps consider this debate from another perspective.
Brisbane
International Airport, which boasts numerous international flights and
is far busier than Burlington airport , also had to contend with similar
concerns some years ago. In 2010, the airport completely banned all
aircraft that reach a certain noise threshold because of concerns around
real-estate value and noise levels for residents. Interestingly enough,
the "banned" aircraft in Brisbane even include the Boeing 727 which
happens to still land daily in Burlington for a cargo carrier.
The
people of Burlington and surrounding towns embrace the airport and the
Vermont Air National Guard as valuable resources, but they are also
justifiably concerned about the impact that greater noise levels could
have on our communities. Even from a purely practical and economic
perspective, in addition to real estate values, the jobs created in a
diversified service sector economy in the recently revitalized Winooski
downtown could be compromised by excessive noise. And while I agree that
it’s a good thing for the Department of Defense to invest in Vermont, I
think it should do so with respect to scale. Investing in research labs
and service centers being relocated to Vermont to create jobs, for
example, would seem a better fit.
As a Vermonter in a distant
diaspora community, I will follow these developments with both concern
and hope. It should be possible to find a positive compromise in which
we don’t alienate the Air Force, yet still manage to protect the quality
of life in these towns along the Winooski River where the rapids are
still audible and naturally invigorate the Vermont spirit.