Despite Temporary Freeze, EU Regs on Foreign Airline Emissions Still Causing Worldwide Worries

Even with the European Union’s recent decision to defer airline emissions trade requirements for foreign flights coming and going from the EU until the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) meets again September, many countries around the world haven’t put much stock in any potential outcomes, and have been coming up with their own alternative contingency plans.

Cartoon courtesy of China Daily.

In the United States, President Barrack Obama signed into law, last week, the “European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011,” which gives the U.S. Transportation Secretary the authority to prohibit U.S. civil aircraft operators from participating in the EU’s emissions trading scheme, where the Secretary feels it would negatively impact U.S. interests.

In imposing prohibitions regarding U.S. aircrafts, the Secretary would be required to take into account:

• the impacts on U.S. consumers, U.S. carriers, and U.S. operators.
• the impacts on the economic, energy, and environmental security of the United States.
• the impacts on U.S. foreign relations, including existing international commitments.

The Secretary would also be required to hold a public hearing at least 30 days before enacting any U.S. prohibitions of EU regulations.

The new law also gives the Secretary, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and “other appropriate officials of the United States Government” negotiating power related to aircraft emissions, including their environmental impacts, but prohibiting the right to impose any taxes or penalties related to the EU’s emissions trading scheme.

This week, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) quoted industry statistics (also cited by the industry lobbying group Airlines for America) which estimate that “compliance could cost American carriers about US$3.1 billion between now and 2020.

“Aside from the U.S., the emissions trade system has also seen opposition from China and Russia. The scheme is accused of being unfair, as it would force airlines to trade credits for pollution for an entire flight, not just while over European airspace.”

The ICTSD added that the European Union’s original decision to include foreign aviation into its emissions trading system “prompted substantial pushback from a wide range of countries – including the U.S., China, India, and Russia, among others – who argue that Brussels was exceeding its authority by charging for emissions produced outside EU airspace. China and India eventually banned their airlines from participating in the scheme without government approval.”

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