Logan Airport will start assessing fees to airlines, rental car companies and bus lines to fund for emissions reduction programs, becoming the nation’s first airport to impose such a measure and leading the way for others around the country. The Massachusetts Port Authority’s decision to take a stance against harmful fuel emissions comes in response to the release of state reports indicating that Logan is the state’s sixth largest contributor of nitrogen oxides, the major components of acid rain, smog and depletion of the ozone layer.
Even with MassPort’s prior pollution record, this new move is a significant first step in reducing air pollution level in the Bay State because Logan Airport will serve as a model for other government agencies and private industries. With the anticipated 7 million more passengers traveling through Logan in the next 10 years, this move will help to offset the effects of this dramatic increase. When government agencies take steps to improve the environment, the private sector will be more likely to follow suit.
While previous efforts at Logan have targeted cars and buses, this plan will also force airlines to be financially responsible for the push to reduce emissions. At this point, the airport cannot ask airlines to reduce their nitrogen oxides because of Logan notorious noise problems; less noisy airplanes emit higher rates of nitrogen oxide. But at least, the airlines will assume some of the financial burden of reducing air pollution by supporting a $15 million effort over a 14-year period.
Although this plan may result in higher ticket prices for travel out of Logan, reducing air pollutants is important because the effects of the emissions’ damage on the ozone layer, which filters out the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, are irreversible. Ozone pollution can cause permanent lung damage, and ozone inhalation triggers health conditions including chest pains, coughing, nausea, throat irritation and congestion, even when present in low levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. While we may not experience many of these effects now, it will affect the quality of our lives in the future.
MassPort’s effort is just a step in the right direction and will hopefully encourage other agencies to do the same.
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