Oakland Middle School Students Speak Up Against OAK Expansion at City Council
OAKLAND- On May 14 at 1:30 PM, the City of Oakland’s Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee heard from Oakland’s Urban Promise Academy’s “Warriors for Justice” students, a Youth Vs. Apocalypse club, who are concerned about how the Port of Oakland’s proposed expansion of the Oakland airport, with the addition of a new terminal and 16 new gates, will exacerbate air pollution and entrench current and future climate impacts.
The students, spoke about being personally impacted by poor air quality, asked why the Port did not to appear in front of the City Council to answer questions, especially about the poor quality of the air they breathe.
The May 14 date was originally set for an Oakland City Council CED Committee study session on the proposed expansion. Committee Chair Dan Kalb sent the Port a list of questions about the need for the expansion, the health and environmental impacts, and the cost. Subsequently Port officials informed the city that they no longer planned to attend the session and would delay until after the Final Environmental Impact Report was issued.
“We deeply appreciate the CED committee’s interest in studying the Port’s expansion proposal. And we are deeply concerned that the Port refuses to answer City Council members’ basic questions about what it is proposing,” said David Foecke, of the Stop OAK Expansion Coalition.
“The Port’s recent decision to rename the Oakland Airport to add ‘San Francisco Bay’ to the name is really about the Port’s plans to add a new terminal and 16 new gates, and the fact that OAK passenger traffic data since the pandemic does not justify that expansion. So they hope to steal passengers from SFO to make up for their failed market projections,” said Mr. Foecke.
Youth Vs. Apocalypse is one of 75+ partner organizations of the Stop OAK Expansion Coalition formed in response to an expansion plan that fails to address essential health, environmental, climate change and worker safety issues that are essential components of the Environmental Justice Element of the City’s General Plan.
KCBS:
https://us.radiocut.fm/radiostation/kcbs/listen/2024/05/15/07/00/00/#
Early morning, Wed 5/15
1 minute clip: Minute 5:07.17 - 5:08.21 (Scroll to find audio start at 5:07.17)
KFPA:
https://kpfa.org/episode/the-pacifica-evening-news-weekdays-may-14-2024/
2+ minutes.
Scroll down the page and click on this news story listing.
Recording of City Council Meeting, minutes 16:18 - 36:56
https://oakland.granicus.com/player/clip/6119?view_id=2&embed=1&redirect=true