“SANTA MONICA IS NOT TRULY GREEN. It’s a fraud they perpetuate. Jet fumes permeate the southeast corner of the city, actually whole south side of the city. They want to chop down trees that provide not only a tree canopy but much needed oxygen and help combat global warming. So it is a fraud. Santa Monica’s airport is a dirty little secret now in our midst.”
“THERE IS A LOT OF POLLUTION FROM the airport and the beach water often bad, not always due to Santa Monica. The only way Santa Monica could totally be green would be to kill everyone in town and tear the whole town down and turn it into a vacant lot and let the weeds take over.”
“I BELIEVE IT IS ALL PROPAGANDA. I am very disappointed in Santa Monica. I’ve lived her 20 years and I’ve just seen a lot of misuse of the political system and the City Council. I don’t see anything being done about the smog, air pollution at the airport, which is a major thing, building parks near an airport, allowing those big jets in there. They have invaded my personal space and my backyard. The city is not standing up for us. I love the library, but most of it is B.S. The subway is not coming down here yet, we don’t have light rail and many things that can be alternative energy for everybody. Unfortunately I think it’s all a facade.”
“WE’RE GREEN, THE CITY DECLARES. We’re saving the earth for our heirs. But we cut down our trees whenever we please. The truth is, none of us cares.”
“WHEN SANTA MONICA PLANS TO remove healthy trees in the downtown district, they can’t be that green anymore because they are making everyone rather blue.”
“SANTA MONICA MAY BE TRULY GREEN but it’s certainly not green around the Santa Monica Airport for those poor folks under the flight path. The plans now are so huge, big jet planes, the noise is unconscionable, the soot is incredible... something needs to be done so only small prop planes fly out of Santa Monica Airport.”
“TI M E AN D TI M E AGAI N TH E CITY of Santa Monica has shrugged off the opportunity to address the disgusting stench and grotesque soot created by idling aircraft at its airport’s runway … No Santa Monica is not truly green and yes there’s just a lot of propaganda.”
“YES I BELIEVE OUR CITY IS TRULY green. It has regulations that promote recycling, the reductions in cigarette smoking and ocean pollution from the construction and utilization of our SMURF, Santa Monica Urban Runoff Facility.”
“THE CITY TALKS A BETTER GAME than they play. Examples abound, both large and small. Waste Management underperforms green goals for recycling and reduction. The Pico streetscape was a green failure, where trees have survived unneglected. Effective around town transportation is a no-show. Traffic impacts from development are ignored. The new Virginia Avenue Park buildings empty their roof runoff directly into the street. Grandstanding ordinances such as banning Styrofoam have no teeth. The tree maintenance is cut in yearly budgets. Water and electricity usage is up, not down. Santa Monica City Hall’s inflated ego gets in the way of performance nearly every time.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.