News
WAC business luncheon provides launch for Lindbergh Foundation’s Aviation Green Alliance
February 4, 2011 8:00am
Wichita, Kan. (Feb. 4, 2011) – A group of Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation officers and board members used the monthly Wichita Aero Club luncheon on Feb. 3 to announce a new initiative focused on aviation’s environmental issues.
“Having an audience here in Wichita, the air capital of the world, is the perfect opportunity to announce the new Aviation Green Alliance,” David Treinis told the crowd of 115. Treinis, principal, Blacksheep Consultants, LLC, is vice chairman of the Lindbergh Foundation. “The flying community has become a target in the debate over emissions, noise, efficiency and other environmental concerns. It’s imperative that we address such challenges with responsibility, care and cooperation among all of aviations’ stakeholders. This alliance creates multiple platforms for members to share strategies, findings, progress and ideas related to aviation’s environmental issues.”
The announcement came at the end of the lunch program titled, “Aviation, the Environment & the Future,” that featured six panelists, all with connections to the Lindbergh Foundation. Charles and Anne Lindbergh, throughout their many pioneering flights, shared a previously impossible aerial view of the effects of the advance of human population and economic development on the land, water and air. Realizing that technology was a major component of any equation describing how humanity would both advance and protect its environment, Charles Lindbergh became a very strong advocate for the environment. The Lindbergh Foundation continues this legacy.
John and Martha King of King Schools, Inc. and Lindbergh Foundation board members moderated the panel. Larry Williams, CEO of BRS Aerospace and the Lindbergh Foundation’s chairman, president and CEO, spoke first, providing a brief history of the foundation.
John L. Petersen, founder of the Arlington Institute and Lindbergh Foundation board officer, put aviation’s carbon dioxide emissions in context (commercial, military and general aviation combined contributes less than 4 percent of global emissions) and discussed big trends in GA for the future that highlight the importance of the environment.
Kermit Weeks, founder of the Fantasy of Flight Museum and Lindbergh Foundation board member, urged those who care about aviation to, “use the spirit of what Charles left us and do it in a way that touches the rest of the world.”
That set up the final speaker, Treinis, to announce the Aviation Green Alliance, which will encourage solutions, acknowledge progress and communicate ideas.
The alliance’s plan of action includes:
1. Up-to-date aviation-environmental news and information
2. Grant funding for the discovery and development of new and promising technologies
3. Recommended practices for achieving measurable aviation-related conservation and sustainability initiatives
4. Educational programs and outreach showcasing industry progress and successes in addressing aviation’s environmental footprint, and
5. Recognition of member successes.
Details of the alliance, membership and benefits are available at aviationgreen.com.
The Wichita Aero Club’s next luncheon features Clay Lacy, National Aviation Hall of Fame inductee, on March 22 at the Wichita Airport Hilton. The luncheon will begin at noon. Tickets are $40 for non-members and $30 for members of the Wichita Aero Club. More information is available at wichitaaeroclub.org or by calling 316-641-5962.
To view photos from this event click here WAC Photo Gallery
