The
push against non-EU airlines'
inclusion in the EU's Emissions
Trading Scheme (ETS) continued Thursday
at the Latin American and Caribbean
Air Transport Assn. (ALTA) Airline
Leaders Forum in Rio de Janeiro,
where a US official accused EU
governments of "undermining" global
efforts to control aviation carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Considering that the US and many other nations agree with the EU's end goal of tracking and controlling aviation CO2 emissions, the EU approach is counterproductive, she said during a luncheon address.
Including non-EU airlines in the ETS is "the wrong way to pursue the right objective," she said. "I can go on at length about the deficiencies of the ETS … Flights from Latin America and the US West Coast to the EU would be particularly hard hit."
Nevertheless, airlines can't ignore EU regulations, cautioned IATA DG and CEO Tony Tyler. "If nothing changes [by January], airlines will have to comply," he said during a roundtable discussion at the ALTA forum. "They'll have no choice." He added that it "would be crazy" for US carriers to scrap transatlantic flying over the ETS.
It will get "interesting" if a bill recently passed by the US House of Representatives to prohibit US airlines from participating in the ETS actually became law, Tyler said, noting that US airlines "can't comply with both" (ATW Daily News, Nov. 3).
The bill will now be considered by the U.S. Senate. President Obama supports the bill, so it is likely to be passed.
Tyler said the sooner the EU resolves the controversy over the ETS, "the less damage will be done." While acknowledging that there are "no public signs" the EU is backing down (ATW Daily News, Nov. 7).
'A Matter Of Life And Death'
November 28, 2011
Climate Conference Opens, Focuses On Emissions Cut
DURBAN, South Africa — Global warming already is causing suffering and conflict in Africa, from drought in Sudan and Somalia to flooding in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Monday, urging delegates at an international climate conference to look beyond national interests for solutions.
U.S. says Kyoto Protocol not on its Durban agenda
November 23, 2011
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22
(Xinhua) -- The Kyoto Protocol was
not up for discussion for the
United States in the new round of
UN climate change talks in South
Africa next week, a U.S. official
said Tuesday.
"Kyoto is not on the table for the
U.S," Todd Stern, U.S. special
envoy for climate change, told
reporters at a press briefing.
However, the U.S. "don't see the
Kyoto being a logjam," Stern said.
Kyoto's
first commitment period ends on
Dec. 31, 2012.
EU Demand
for Road Map to Climate Treaty
Complicates Talks
November 28, 2011
Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s demand for a road map leading to the next legally-binding global warming treaty raises a hurdle that may snarl negotiations at the United Nations climate conference this week.
Officials
in Brussels indicate they’re
“planning to hold out and play
hard ball, ”.
The U.S. has
signaled it opposes the EU plan.
Todd Stern,
the State Department’s climate
envoy, told reporters in a Nov.
18 briefing in Arlington,
Virginia that it’s “premature”
to make promises about the legal
form of a climate agreement
before seeing its contents. U.S.
officials are scheduled to brief
journalists in Durban today.
Mid-Point
- March 21st 2013
God
Bless,
Gail
God Bless,
Gail