A march and rally in Burlington on Friday will demand action to cancel F-35. The march will start at the office of Bernie Sanders, then to Patrick Leahy's office, and then to Miro Weinberger's office.
Friday, September 6
5:00 pm Assemble and rally outside Senator Bernie Sanders' office, 1 Church Street
5:30 pm March to Patrick Leahy's office for a rally at the Democracy Wall
6:00 pm March to steps of City Hall in front of Miro Weinberger's office for the final rally
Twenty eight Vermont organizations are co-sponsoring.
"By pushing the F-35 basing in a city, Senators Leahy and Sanders and Mayor Weinberger are willfully and knowingly injuring the cognitive development of a thousand children," said Kai Mikkel Førlie, a cancel-the-F-35 organizer.
Speakers at the rallies outside each of their offices will present the facts admitted by the Air Force that children's cognitive development and learning are impaired by such extreme aircraft noise in the Chamberlin School neighborhood.
"We demand cancellation of the F-35 basing at the city airport," said Jennifer Decker, a rally organizer.
According to a recent VTDigger article, F-35 jets are actually now using afterburner for takeoff 50% to 100% of the time at three Air Force bases, way more than the 5% projected by the Air Force for the Burlington airport. The injury afterburner takeoffs will bring to children and adults in the city location will be far more severe even than the harm previously described by the Air Force.
At each of the three rallies, speakers will call for a town meeting with Leahy, Sanders, and Weinberger where the facts can be disclosed with our elected representatives. Speakers will also request answers from the US Air Force in a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
"Noise damage to hearing and learning are not the only dangers," said Førlie. The fact that the F-35 burns 2,700 gallons in 1.5 hours of flight means its operation is a threat to the global climate. And the fact that it is a nuclear bomb delivery vehicle means it will make the airport a target for Russian and Chinese nuclear missiles."
"We are confident that a free and fair review of the facts will support our demand that the F-35 basing in a city be canceled now," said Ms. Decker.
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