US anti-ETS aviation bill is highly counterproductive

Published on Wednesday, 14 November 2012 10:32

Posted by Vicki Mitchem

Commenting on the passage yesterday evening of the EU-ETS Prohibition Act by the US House of Representatives, which will make it illegal for US airlines to comply with the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS), WWF-UK said that the bill was "fundamentally flawed and unreasonable".

WWF said that it was unfortunate that, after an election that gave a mandate for action on climate change in the wake of terrible damage from Hurricane Sandy, the first act of the US Congress was to pass a bill blocking progress on the issue. The group is calling on President Obama to veto the bill and bolster his credibility on climate change and protecting the environment at the outset of his second term.

WWF said that progress was being made to regulate carbon pollution from aviation through the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which has been pushed into action by the EU's move to include aviation in the ETS, but far too slowly. The group said that the move by the US Congress, coming just days after the EU showed flexibility to help speed up the ICAO process, was highly counterproductive.

Jean Leston, senior transport policy advisor at WWF-UK, said: "The EU-ETS Prohibition Act is fundamentally flawed and unreasonable: it presumes the US can disregard other country's laws, it effectively calls for trade war and is a real slap in the face for the EU, which just suspended ETS for US airlines this week. This hardly seems an appropriate response.

"This bill is bad for the planet and bad for the US diplomatic relations with Europe, and we urge the President to veto it."

Source: ©WWF