Posts
If
the corporations tell Obama to jump he'll jump
Airline
industry urges Obama to block EU carbon scheme
The
U.S. aviation industry urged President Barack Obama on Monday to file
a U.N. action to stop the EU from forcing foreign aircraft to pay for
their carbon emissions ahead of a U.N. meeting that will try to make
progress on a multilateral solution to the ongoing aviation row
18
September, 2012
The
U.S. aviation industry urged President Barack Obama on Monday to file
a U.N. action to stop the EU from forcing foreign aircraft to pay for
their carbon emissions ahead of a U.N. meeting that will try to make
progress on a multilateral solution to the ongoing aviation row.
Nineteen
aviation industry groups called on the president to initiate an
Article 84 proceeding in the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), whose governing council will convene from
October 29 to November 6.
"An
Article 84 action will prompt, rather than impede, agreement and
implementation of a global framework for addressing aviation
greenhouse gas emissions," the groups, including the U.S.
airline organization Airlines for America, wrote in their letter to
Obama.
The letter said the body "has a proven track record of efficiently handling an Article 84 dispute while simultaneously advancing new environmental standards."
An
Article 84 proceeding is a dispute mechanism available to ICAO's 191
member states, which would give ICAO's governing council the
authority to decide on disputes that cannot be resolved between
states.
GLOBAL
ALTERNATIVE
Environmental
groups and ICAO's Secretary General Raymond Benjamin have said they
oppose the time-consuming action because it could undermine efforts
by the body to devise a common plan.
ICAO
has been under pressure to devise a global alternative to the
European Union's carbon cap-and-trade system due to strong opposition
from the United States, China and other nations, but the process has
been slow.
It
is in the process of weighing three market-based approaches for its
members to take to help them cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
Benjamin
told Reuters earlier this month that he expected the council to have
a draft plan by March 2013, rather than the end of 2012 as had been
previously thought.
The
global system must approved by ICAO's 191 members at its autumn 2013
assembly.
The
U.S. aviation groups, that also included the Aerospace Industries
Association, warned that if left unchecked, the EU's imposition of
its carbon trading scheme could extend beyond just foreign airlines.
"If
this EU breach of U.S. sovereignty ... over our airspace and
international waters - goes unanswered, it almost certainly will
result in other such schemes affecting a variety of sectors of the
U.S. economy," the letter said.
CONGRESSIONAL
PRESSURE
Meanwhile,
Congress may also put pressure on the Obama administration this week
with the possible passage of a bill that would shield U.S. airlines
from participating in the EU's emissions trading scheme.
Last
week, Republican Senator John Thune had been prepared to put get a
unanimous consent vote on the Senate floor on the bill he co-authored
with Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill.
The
senator called off the vote because some objections were raised, a
Senate aide told Reuters.
But
supporters of the Thune-McCaskill bill are negotiating compromise
language to address lingering concerns, said Jean Medina,
spokesperson for Airlines for America.
She
said the senators hope to secure enough votes for passage before
Senate goes into recess ahead of the November elections.
Other
aviation news -
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.