From:            laura gibbons
To:                Commission-Public-Records
Subject:           [EXTERNAL] Comment for the 8/11 Port meeting
Date:              Friday, August 7, 2020 9:20:58 AM

WARNING: External email. Links or attachments may be unsafe.

Commissioners,
I am Laura Gibbons, a Seattle resident, and a volunteer member of the Aviation Team of 350 Seattle, a
group that works for climate justice.
A request by 7 airlines for lease reductions was reported in the Puget Sound Business Journal on July 30
(https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2020/07/30/airport-leases-seattle-ua-aa-jb-ba-uae-as-
delta.html). The airlines talk about having the Port operate as a "not-for-profit" for 2 years, indicating a
complete misunderstanding by the airlines about who is serving who.
As you know, the Port is a non-profit governmental agency financed by taxpayers for OUR benefit, not a
profit-making business serving the airlines. We taxpayers want facilities that make it possible to fly when
we really need to, but reflect a level of air transport that will not unduly affect our climate.
Your job as Port Commissioners is to represent our community, and as you have heard in public
testimony week after week, we want a reduction in aviation, not subsidies to an industry that seems intent
on exacerbating climate change.
Sincerely,
Laura Gibbons