Wed, Dec 28, 2011
Says Its Carbon Tax Case Will Go Forward
As the countdown continues to the January 1 start of the
European Union's new unilateral carbon tax on airlines, including
portions of flights outside its jurisdiction, China has announced
it will go forward with a suit against the plan, notwithstanding a
recent defeat in European courts of a similar challenge brought by
the US.
Reuters reports that the China Air Transport Association (CATA)
will file the suit, despite dim prospects of winning. Association
Deputy Secretary Chai Haibo is quoted in the Monday edition of the
Economic Observer as saying, "We deeply regretted that the United
States lost the lawsuit. We know that the prospect of victory is
dim, but we want to show our firm opposition by launching a
lawsuit."
In a related action, China daily reports that four state-run
airlines in China will file their own, combined lawsuit in Germany
before the end of this week. The Economic Observer says the
airlines were directed to act with a unified voice by the General
Administration of Civil Aviation of China.
The European Union's carbon trading scheme, implemented to
comply with commitments made under the Kyoto Treaty, is widely
touted by social planners as a measure intended to change behavior,
not produce revenue. By that standard, it is a flop. Reason.org's
Ron Bailey notes that the Swiss bank UBS issued a report in
November which found that implementing Europe’s carbon market
has resulted in almost no low-carbon innovations in energy
production, while imposing about $280 billion in additional costs
on European consumers.
Airlines in the US have argued that the new carbon license
fees appear primarily intended to subsidize European
governments.
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