Sat, Jan 28, 2012
Letter Promises 'Appropriate Action' Against EU Should The
Press Forward
The NBAA is among the organizations applauding a strongly-worded
letter from two high-ranking U.S. government officials to European
Union President Jose Manuel Barroso, warning that Washington will
take "appropriate action" if the EU continues demanding that
aircraft flagged in the U.S. participate in Europe’s
Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS).
(L-R) Secretary Clinton, Secretary
LaHood
In a December 16 letter, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Barroso: "We strongly
object on legal and policy grounds to the EU's plan to subject our
operators to the EU's ETS. The EU is increasingly isolated on this
issue.
"The EU's Directive, the letter continues, "is the wrong way to
achieve our shared objective of addressing emissions from
international aviation. The EU's application of the ETS
to…non-EU States is inconsistent with the legal regime
governing international aviation and with ICAO [International Civil
Aviation Organization] guidance on emissions trading."
Their letter was accompanied by what Clinton and LaHood called a
"partial list" of more than 20 nations opposed to EU-ETS.
NBAA was among 17 organizations that recently sent a letter
thanking Clinton and LaHood for their action on the issue. In their
letter, the signing organizations noted, "We understand that the
Administration is considering next steps to block this unlawful and
exorbitant scheme. We strongly support such action, as the U.S.
government has the tools not only to reject the EU’s
unilateral imposition of this scheme on the U.S. and its airlines
and aircraft operators, but to work to get the EU and its Member
States back to the table at ICAO to flesh out and implement the
global sectoral approach framework provisionally agreed in
2010."
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen thanked the government leaders
for taking action on the industry's alarm over the EU-ETS. "The
secretaries correctly point out that ICAO, as an arm of the United
Nations, is the proper authority under which plans for further
addressing aircraft emissions be developed for the world's aviation
community," Bolen said.
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