October 14, 2025
State House Rally
Over 50 organizations signed our letter urging the Governor and State Legislators to reject SAF policies and subsidies. We delivered key documents to lawmakers, heard from climate champions including Sen. Mike Barrett and Rep. Carmine Gentile, and presented the new Institute for Policy Studies report on SAF barriers in Massachusetts.
Click the arrows above to view the full photo gallery. Photos courtesy of Marylin Humphries
Videos of Speakers’ Remarks (about 5 min each):
Sen. Mike Barrett, for the 3rd Middlesex District, MA
Rep. Carmine Gentile, for the 13th Middlesex District, MA
Alex Chatfield, SPJE Coalition
Chuck Collins, director of Program on Inequality and the Common Good, Institute for Policy Studies (IPS): co-author of new SAF report
Claire Karl Muller, coordinator of Mass Power Forward and Movement Building Director for UU Mass Action
Lara Sullivan, Project Manager, SPJE Coalition
Critiques of SAFs - delivered to the Governor’s Office & State Legislators’ offices on Rally Day, 10/14/25:
Sign-On Letter - Signed by over 50 organizations
IPS Report - "Barriers to Implementing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Massachusetts"
Letter sent by ACES to the Governor, 10/9/25:
ACES Letter to Governor Healey (delivered 10/9/25)
News Coverage
Airfield Expansion Opponents Dismiss "Greenwashing Campaign" by Ella Adams for the State House News Service, October 14, 2025
Also published by WWLP News 22, and The Commonwealth Beacon
Groups Fight Sustainable Aviation Fuels, Hanscom Field Hangar Expansion, by Piper Pavelich, Bedford Citizen October 17, 2025
Airfield sparks backlash with controversial plan to accommodate wealthy travelers: 'This is the inflection point' by Simon Sage, The Cool Down, November 16, 2025
SPJE’s Sign-On Letter is still open!
55 organizations were signed on at time of delivery on Oct 14th, and six more have signed on since then.
We expect that SAFs will be a big part of the developers' SDEIR (Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Report) on the massive proposed luxury private jet hangar expansion at Hanscom - so ask your organization to sign on now!
To add your organization’s name, email us at info@spje.org or fill out this form
Rejection of SAF policies - Urging Massachusetts Governor Healey and state legislators to reject policies and subsidies promoting "Sustainable" Aviation Fuels (SAFs)
SAFs are not climate solutions - All SAFs are primarily fossil jet fuel (blended 10-50%), produce as much or more CO2 as conventional jet fuel, and scaling up production is unrealistic (would need 227,400% increase by 2050)
Major drawbacks of all SAF types - Crop-based SAFs threaten food security and cause deforestation; waste-based SAFs have minuscule supply; e-fuels require enormous amounts of energy to produce
Misalignment with climate goals - SAFs cannot help Massachusetts achieve net zero by 2050 and divert resources from proven solutions like clean electric grid conversion
False solution concerns - SAFs compared to past failed "solutions" like clean coal and ethanol, representing industry greenwashing rather than genuine climate action
Alternative recommendations - Prioritize 100% clean electric grid, clean public transit, and reducing demand for unnecessary flights, especially private jets
Selected Remarks from Senator Mike Barrett
The fight to stop private jet hangar expansion at Hanscom “so that the super-rich can’t super-pollute – you’re making a broader statement about the possibilities of pushing back.”
Massport has made public commitments to climate goals but “There is no way you can put in a whole bunch of essentially garages for private jets and still claim ever again…to be concerned about the climate. This is it. This is the inflection point for Massport. The same is true for the legislature and the Executive Branch, also. It is going to be very, very difficult for your elected officials to make the case that we prioritize fighting climate if this particular deal goes down.”
“We are asking our current Governor, who’s done so much good work on other issues, to appreciate there is precedent for her saying just no: ‘Not on my watch.’” [Reference to Gov Frank Sargent halting the Inner Belt highway plans that would have decimated Boston neighborhoods.]
“By the way, I think we’re going to win this one. I’m quite optimistic. You folks have done such stellar work, and have raised this to such a pitch, that I believe in the end – remember either Massport or the Governor, either one of them can kill this deal. Only one of them has to hear us, and I believe they will.”
Visit this link for more quotes from Senator Barrett's speech.
Selected Remarks from Representative Carmine Gentile
· "Each of us is here today because we refuse to accept that private luxury should come before public survival. We refuse to allow Massport to expand private jet infrastructure, flooding our atmosphere with enormous amounts of carbon, while our planet burns."
· On Sustainable Aviation Fuels: "The coal industry once talked about “clean coal.” The truth is simple: private jets will never be sustainable, no matter what fuel you burn in the engine."
· "Let’s be clear: Hanscom expansion is not about “economic development.” It’s about convenience for a few hundred ultra-wealthy individuals, the 0.01% who already have everything except a sense of responsibility. It’s about building more private jet hangars for billionaires while the rest of us are fighting to breathe clean air and pay for public transit."
· "Massachusetts has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. How can we take that goal seriously if we greenlight projects like this? We can’t. How can we tell working families to switch to electric cars, to insulate their homes, to take the T, while letting the ultra-rich burn jet fuel for quick flights to the Caribbean? That would be a moral failure."
· "We are demanding that the Governor, Massport, and every elected official in Massachusetts reject this expansion and commit to a livable future -
Let’s make this crystal clear:
No to excuses.
No to Hanscom expansion
No to more private jet use, anywhere
Because climate justice means everyone, not just those who can afford to fly above the rest of us."
Visit this link for Representative Gentile's full written remarks