August 2008

Swiss campaigners launched a bid on Monday to ban off-roaders, SUVs and 
gas-guzzling executive and sports cars, winning enough support for a 
referendum.

The Young Green party said on Monday in a statement, it had turned in 
120,000 verified signatures gathered in support of a referendum, to be 
held within 18 months.

A spokesman for the Federal Chancellery said it will now check the 
signatures, although the 100,000 valid signatures necessary to call a 
referendum "should easily have been surpassed".

"Our initiative slows global warming, protects cyclists, pedestrians and 
children, stops the arms race on the streets..., reduces pollution and 
is still reasonable," the initiators said on their website.

The initiators want all new cars to emit less than 250g of carbon 
dioxide (CO2) per kilometre, and diesel engines to be equipped with 
particle filters.

Furthermore, new cars should weigh less than 2.2 tonnes and have a safer 
front in order to protect pedestrians.

Cars which do not fit these criteria but are already registered should 
have a speed limit of 100 km/h, the initiators propose.

Various European countries have introduced higher taxes to penalise 
pollution, hitting sales of cars such as SUVs.
-----------------------

Acknowledgement: Reuters India

I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
Campaign for direct democracy in Britain
http://www.iniref.org/

I&R ~ GB > wrote:
> August 2008
> 
> Swiss campaigners launched a bid on Monday to ban off-roaders, SUVs and 
> gas-guzzling executive and sports cars, winning enough support for a 
> referendum.
> 
> The Young Green party said on Monday in a statement, it had turned in 
> 120,000 verified signatures gathered in support of a referendum, to be 
> held within 18 months.
> 
> A spokesman for the Federal Chancellery said it will now check the 
> signatures, although the 100,000 valid signatures necessary to call a 
> referendum "should easily have been surpassed".
> 
> "Our initiative slows global warming, protects cyclists, pedestrians and 
> children, stops the arms race on the streets..., reduces pollution and 
> is still reasonable," the initiators said on their website.
> 
> The initiators want all new cars to emit less than 250g of carbon 
> dioxide (CO2) per kilometre, and diesel engines to be equipped with 
> particle filters.
> 
> Furthermore, new cars should weigh less than 2.2 tonnes and have a safer 
> front in order to protect pedestrians.

What is a 'safer' front? Built-in cushions?

The graphic (website) version of this newsletter can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/newsletter495.htm

Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter 
#495...............................................................................August 
24,  2008 Past newsletters can be accessed at: 
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm  If you want to get the 
newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy 
rockaway@prodigy.net

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote of the Week:  "It ain't working," comment from Long Island, New York, 
Suffork County legislature presiding officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) at 
a Suffolk Legislature forum meeting to talk about Senator Chuck Schumer's 
plan that was "supposed" to stop helicopters from flying low over  homes to 
ferry the rich and powerful from Manhattan to the Hamptons.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Class War Over Helicopter Noise!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

As Bill Sees It (Editorial): Senator Chuck's Helicopter Plan Getting Heat 
From Long Island Residents!!!  Senator Chuck Schumer loves to be the broker 
between air traffic controllers, FAA management, airports, aviation industry 
and, oh yes, his constituents. But this time it seems as if the media hound 
U.S. senator from New York is getting bad press for his efforts as the some 
of the media isn't dancing to his press releases. According to a news story 
this week "The Riverhead hearing drew a standing-room-only crowd of East End 
residents with tales of helicopter woes. In the last year, only the 
legislature's immigration debates have drawn larger or angrier crowds!!!" 
Even bird sanctuary and horse owners talked about the deleterious effect on 
wildlife and animals. It looks as if Schumer and his aviation industry pals 
are going to have to go back to the drawing board and come up with another 
plan to expand the helicopter flights over Long Island. Usually Schumer 
finds poor and/or minority areas to dump aviation noise on while carefully 
protecting well-healed, politically powerful communities.  I guess he had a 
hard time finding those in the wealthy, East End of Long Island, New York.

Schumer And Airline Industry Fight FAA "Slot" Change Effort At N.Y. City 
Airports To Reduce Congestion!!! I don't fully understand the ramifications 
of these slot changes, but if Schumer and the aviation industry oppose it I 
know it must be harmful for the aviation victims on the ground bringing more 
planes and noise. It seems that this is one time the FAA has got it right. 
One again Schumer shows how he is the aviation industry's agent in the 
Senate when he actually proposed legislation to prohibit the slot auctions 
by the FAA. The aviation industry lobby brought a lawsuit!!! This seems to 
be a battle over who controls the nation's airports, the government or the 
aviation industry. Local communities, the people most  impacted by airport 
pollution have long been pushed out of the game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Spain: 153 Killed In Madrid Plane Crash!!! Madrid - One of the 19 survivors 
of a Spanish jetliner which crashed shortly after take-off, killing 153 
people, recalled on Thursday seeing bodies scattered everywhere as she 
escaped the wreckage of the plane. "I lifted my head and all I saw were 
scattered bodies," Ligia Palomino, a doctor, told Spain's top-selling daily 
newspaper El Pais. Palomino said she was left semi-unconscious immediately 
after the Spanair plane slammed into a field beyond the runway on Wednesday, 
but woke up when one of the MD-82's fuel tanks exploded. "I heard a horrible 
noise and I fled," she told the newspaper, adding she then called her sister 
Fernanda from the ambulance that took her to a Madrid hospital. "My 
telephone rang and it was her. She told me that the airplane exploded but 
she was alright, that we should not worry," said Fernanda. Palomino suffered 
burns and superficial cuts to her face and was operated on a bone facture on 
her left leg. The Spanair flight with 172 people on board was bound for the 
Canary Islands. 
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2380021,00.html

New York: Long Island Residents Blast Legislature Over Helicopter Noise!!! 
North Fork residents angry about helicopter noise packed a Suffolk 
Legislature meeting last night to bemoan choppers they say are flying low 
over their homes to ferry the rich and powerful from Manhattan to the 
Hamptons. The 2 1/2-hour debate focused on a deal brokered last winter by 
Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) with helicopter 
operators to keep choppers away from populated areas on the North Shore. 
Angry residents said the nonbinding agreement has resulted in more choppers 
flying low over areas such as Cutchogue, Mattituck and Baiting Hollow. Their 
vitriol was aimed primarily at the operators and riders of helicopters 
flying the popular routes between Manhattan and the Hamptons. Barbara 
McAdam, of Cutchogue, decried the "elitists, socialites and Wall Street 
types with their oh-so-busy schedules." More than three dozen people spoke 
during the forum, which was held to discuss a bill offered by Legis. Ed 
Romaine (R-Center Moriches) that would ban helicopter flights lower than 
2,500 feet. Romaine did not specify how the county could enforce the 
proposal. Nor was it explained how the legislation would mesh with the fact 
that the Federal Aviation Administration has jurisdiction over the nation's 
airspace, though Legis. Brian Beedenbender (D-Centereach) urged residents to 
seek help from Schumer and Bishop, not the county. The Riverhead hearing 
drew a standing-room-only crowd of East End residents with tales of 
helicopter woes. In the last year, only the legislature's immigration 
debates have drawn larger or angrier crowds. The owner of a Baiting Hollow 
hummingbird sanctuary said the noise disrupts his tiny fliers. And several 
horse owners testified that their equines are spooked. 
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/wednesday/longisland/ny-posuff205808109aug20,0,1975945.story
                     @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

                                Important Aviation News Stories This Week

North Fork residents vent to lawmakers about helicopter traffic

BY REID J. EPSTEIN | reid.epstein@newsday.com
August 20, 2008 
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/wednesday/longisland/ny-posuff205808109aug20,0,1975945.story
 North Fork residents angry about helicopter noise packed a Suffolk 
Legislature meeting last night to bemoan choppers they say are flying low 
over their homes to ferry the rich and powerful from Manhattan to the 
Hamptons.

The 2 1/2-hour debate focused on a deal brokered last winter by Sen. Charles 
Schumer and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) with helicopter operators to 
keep choppers away from populated areas on the North Shore. Angry residents 
said the nonbinding agreement has resulted in more choppers flying low over 
areas such as Cutchogue, Mattituck and Baiting Hollow.

Their vitriol was aimed primarily at the operators and riders of helicopters 
flying the popular routes between Manhattan and the Hamptons. Barbara 
McAdam, of Cutchogue, decried the "elitists, socialites and Wall Street 
types with their oh-so-busy schedules."

More than three dozen people spoke during the forum, which was held to 
discuss a bill offered by Legis. Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) that would 
ban helicopter flights lower than 2,500 feet.
 Romaine did not specify how the county could enforce the proposal. Nor was 
it explained how the legislation would mesh with the fact that the Federal 
Aviation Administration has jurisdiction over the nation's airspace, though 
Legis. Brian Beedenbender (D-Centereach) urged residents to seek help from 
Schumer and Bishop, not the county.

The Riverhead hearing drew a standing-room-only crowd of East End residents 
with tales of helicopter woes. In the last year, only the legislature's 
immigration debates have drawn larger or angrier crowds.

The owner of a Baiting Hollow hummingbird sanctuary said the noise disrupts 
his tiny fliers. And several horse owners testified that their equines are 
spooked.

The proposal drew opposition from aerial photographers, local helicopter 
pilots and real estate agents, who often rely on photographs from above to 
sell East End properties.

David Acker, a Head of the Harbor resident who said he pilots helicopters as 
a hobby, called the proposal a waste of money. "There really isn't anything 
this legislature can do except expend Suffolk County resources," he said.

The Eastern Region Helicopter Council's Robert Grotell told legislators that 
the industry has worked hard to reduce noise by directing choppers on the 
routes set in the deal brokered by Schumer and Bishop.

"It ain't working," Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) 
responded.





Schumer And Aviation Industry Battle FAA Over N.Y. Airport "Slots:"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850026153131653.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Here's your political puzzle for the day: Whose side would you be on in a 
tussle that features the Federal Aviation Administration and New York City 
Mayor Mike Bloomberg squaring off against Texas GOP Senator Kay Bailey 
Hutchison, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and the Port Authority of New 
York and New Jersey?

That's a tough one for people who like to think the mere presence of one of 
these players means little good could happen. Hint: What's on the table is a 
proposal to auction takeoff and landing slots at the nation's most congested 
airports.

This is a good idea, and we have to admit the real ringer in that lineup is 
the FAA, not normally associated with anything rational. In fact, the FAA is 
suggesting that market forces be allowed to untangle the ungodly mess of 
"traveling" through LaGuardia, JFK or Newark airports. Alleviating this 
nightmare with the FAA's proposal "seems to me to make a lot of sense," 
Mayor Bloomberg remarked. "You encourage big planes that carry more people." 
But from the Port Authority and Senators Schumer and Hutchison has come a 
simple response: Never!

Yesterday, the Air Transport Association -- the airline lobby -- challenged 
the auction in court, calling the government "intellectually dishonest." The 
Port Authority has promised to ban any airliner that uses an auctioned slot. 
Senator Schumer says the DOT is "hell-bent on jamming" the plan down New 
Yorkers' throats. Senator Hutchison is the top Republican on the Commerce 
Committee, and bonus points to readers who've already figured out a Texan's 
interest in faraway New York City.

Many airlines have admirably invested in airport infrastructure. 
Theoretically deregulated, the industry still has had the federal government 
allocating slots. Since 1969 when the High Density Rule put a limit on 
LaGuardia's flights, all three airports have been subject to limited 
operations each hour, causing constant delays.

Now comes the FAA with a strategy to, of all things, get the government out 
of the business of determining supply. Opening a market system where 
airlines would be free to bid on the slots they value most would increase 
capacity and lower ticket prices. Today some slots are consistently 
overbooked, with others left nearly empty. Even if a slot is 
underperforming, the airlines hold onto it. Why sell when there is no 
market? The entry barriers to entrepreneurs remain formidable.

The FAA has a fair proposal on the table. The auctions would occur over five 
year periods and enable carriers to lease their slots to other carriers, 
giving them the opportunity to buy back into the market.

The Port Authority replies the FAA has no right to "confiscate" the slots, 
which they claim as their own. But this property is derived from the FAA. 
The Port Authority also says auctions might raise marginal costs. But when 
new entrants join the market, fares likely will drop. Southwest Airlines 
expanded into Philadelphia International Airport in 2004 and fares dropped 
considerably.

There's no doubt the fuel-price spike has made life uncomfortable for the 
likes of American Airlines and Continental Airlines, both based, by the way, 
in faraway Texas. We suspect that most regular travelers have opinions of 
their own about the comfort level at these three chronically delayed 
airports. The FAA's auction idea deserves a chance to untangle one of 
travel's worst problems.