Fri, May 29, 2009
Just What We Needed... Experts Say It's "A Matter of Time"
At the Eco-Aviation conference
Thursday in Washington, D.C., Natural Resources Defense Council
International Climate Policy Director Jake Schmidt told attendees
"Within the U.S., aviation will be covered in some form or another.
Inevitably it's coming." Several industry experts say they believe
it's only a matter of time before emissions standards are applied
to aviation, and that it will be important to apply the proper
metrics and targets to those standards through the proper
regulatory approach.
ATA reports Schmidt pointed to proposed US House of
Representatives legislation sponsored by Reps. Edward Markey
(D-Mass.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) which calls for economy-wide
carbon dioxide emissions to be 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, 42%
below by 2030 and 82% lower by 2050, and specifically mandates the
US Environmental Protection Agency to set CO2 emissions standards
for new aircraft and new aircraft engines by 2012.
He said that "global [CO2] emissions need to peak within the
next 5-10" years and then start declining in order to prevent
damaging climate change, adding that "aviation needs to find its
place in this declining baseline."
A representative from the EPA said the agency does not have a
public position on how aviation emissions will be addressed, and
the FAA said it, too, is considering standards for carbon dioxide.
ATA President and CEO James May (pictured above)said the
association supports efforts to address aviation CO2 emissions on
an international level through ICAO. "Given that aviation is a
global industry, we need a global, sector-specific approach to
climate change," May said.
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