Environmental advocates are urging for the discontinuation of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels renowned air performance in Seattle, Washington, stating that the event generates excessive noise and contributes to environmental harm.
The Airshow Climate Action Coalition, comprising activists from various “local climate groups,” has erected a billboard displaying individuals with hands over their ears and featuring messages like, “Say no to Blue Angels!” alongside phrases such as “Too loud,” “War trauma,” and “pollution,” as reported by Fox News.
The coalition’s billboard serves as a protest against Seattle’s Seafair festival, where the Blue Angels have been a feature since 1972, according to the source.
According to the U.S. Navy Blue Angels website, the Blue Angels, which have represented the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps since 1946, consists of “140 world-class, active-duty Sailors and Marines.”
“Since 1946, it has been our honor to represent the United States Navy and Marine Corps to audiences both at home and abroad as we showcase the excitement, precision, and power of naval aviation,” a message from the Blue Angels commanding officer on the website says.
Aedan McCall, the “main designer for the billboard,” used to live on Mercer Island – where the Blue Angels fly, before leaving due to the “fallout effects” from the airshow, according to the Seattle Times.
“The sheer amount of carbon emissions the Blue Angels create — 670 tons in one weekend — is immense and wasteful on top of being a big display of U.S. militarism,” McCall explained to the outlet.
Another person, who works as a community organizer, started a petition that calls for an end to the Blue Angels airshow, according to the outlet.
Mary Paterson, a volunteer with 350 Seattle and a member of the coalition behind the billboard clarified that they “don’t oppose Seafair,” but that they “oppose the continued Boeing-sponsored airshow with the Blue Angels,” according to Fox13 News.
Paterson added that noise from the Blue Angels airshow “causes hearing damage, especially for children.”
The coalition’s billboard comes as a Seattle resident, Lauren Lombardi, filed a lawsuit against several Blue Angels officials, claiming that her sick cat was traumatized by the noise from the airshow, according to KOMO News.
Lombardi also claimed that the Blue Angels reportedly “silenced her on social media by blocking her” from interacting with the Blue Angels Instagram page.
