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# Santa Monica Council is two-faced about jets
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-council-is-two-faced-about-jets-editor/
- Published: 2007-08-29T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:42:56.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*By Miriam Jaffe Santa Monica*

I am writing to you regarding the Santa Monica jet air pollution controversy (“Living in the shadow of the airport,” Aug. 25-26).

I am astounded by the level of hypocrisy displayed by the city of Santa Monica on this issue. Every event put on by Santa Monica, whether it’s a Farmers’ Market, a convention — whatever — there are recycling bins everywhere, because, apparently, the city values the environment so, so much. You have to put your plastics here, your glass there, your paper here, etc.

Yet they are willing to spew jet fuel gas into the air for hours at a time while the jets ready for take-off, so the city can get some fat fees off of each take-off or landing? What a joke!

But the hypocrisy doesn’t end there. Most of the fumes seem to blow toward West Los Angeles — out of the city of Santa Monica. So who cares about non-Santa Monicans, right? I guess Santa Monica’s environmentalism doesn’t extend beyond its borders.

The hypocrisy doesn’t end there. When our West Los Angeles neighborhood, east of Bundy, was populated by mostly mechanics, plumbers and teachers — about 10-plus years ago — and we raised this issue, the city put our item as the last one on the agenda of a three-hour meeting. We had two minutes each to speak about the fumes that poisoned and choked us on a daily basis, while a timer ran right in front of our face.

Now that all these yuppies and rich people moved into the area, the issue gets a special meeting (on Aug. 28) and put at the top of the agenda? I guess air quality is more important when houses are selling for over $1 million.

What a joke! And the final act of hypocrisy by a supposedly eco-friendly Santa Monica: They are now planning to cut down dozens of trees for the airport.

Santa Monica, enjoy your big jet landing fees, which you can get rich on along with all your inflated property taxes and parking tickets. Just spare me the environmental heroics at my local Farmers’ Market. Hundreds of Coke cans going to the dump will do a lot less damage than what your private jets do in a second.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 29, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)