Airport's Deleted Earth Day Tweet Urged People To Drive There

BOSTON — Boston Logan International Airport has been put in the spotlight over a bizarre tweet that implies driving to, and parking at, the airport is good for the environment.

Using the #EarthDay hashtag as the holiday comes Thursday, the airport's Twitter account on Monday wrote: "For those traveling, parking at the airport brings you close to your terminal and reduces the impact on the environment,” along with a photo of a car entering a parking garage, screenshots from local media outlets show.

“This has to be a joke,” one Twitter user replied, according to a CBS Boston report. “Driving to and parking at the airport is awful for the environment. This post is just factually untrue.”

"Did a parking garage write this?" asked another.

Environmental experts have long advocated for taking some sort of public transportation or carpooling to an airport, or any other high-trafficked venue, as opposed to people driving separately.

The Massachusetts Sierra Club called the Logan Airport Earth Day tweet "ridiculous greenwashing" in a Monday response, calling on the Massachusetts Port Authority, the agency that oversees the airport, to do more to "reduce traffic, emissions and air pollution."

Perhaps even more bizarre is the response from Massport.

Jennifer Mehigan, a spokeswoman for the agency, defended the tweet in an interview with Streetsblog Mass, arguing that driving and parking at the airport means two car trips, while having someone drive you and then pick you up after the return trip means four.

“We have had similar messaging for years,” she told Streetsblog. “Passengers that park at Logan generate two car trips — they drive there, then home — while being dropped off and later picked up by a loved one generates four car trips.”

That concept wasn't made clear in the tweet, which made no mention of public transportation or other ways to get there that would be more environmently friendly.

Mehigan did mention it in her statement to Streetsblog.

“Logan Express and other HOV modes are better for the environment, though parking is better than ‘pick up/drop off’ and often better than taxis and TNCs (e.g., Uber or Lyft) if those cars come to or leave Logan empty,” she said.

Massport itself did make a more environmentally friendly tweet of its own on Monday, although one suggesting Bostonians take an afternoon stroll in the Thomas J. Butler Memorial Park did not include the #EarthDay hashtag.

With the weather getting better, why not take a walk in one of our South Boston parks? Visit the Thomas J. Butler Memorial Park for an afternoon stroll! pic.twitter.com/vrZ5yVOj7k
— Massport (@Massport) April 19, 2021