A4A commends DOT Secretary LaHood for leadership in fighting EU ETS

WASHINGTON, 14 March 2012.Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for leading U.S. airlines, commends Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood for his efforts to overturn the application of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to U.S. airlines and aircraft operators.

“We commend Secretary LaHood for once again speaking out against this unilateral and extraterritorial scheme, and for recognizing that assertive action is needed to reverse this directive, which violates international law and imposes an exorbitant tax on U.S. airlines," says A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. "A4A urges the U.S. government to file an Article 84 legal proceeding at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as a means of overturning the ETS and bringing the Europeans back to the negotiating table. As Secretaries LaHood and Clinton correctly pointed out in a December letter to EU officials, the ETS is standing in the way of a global framework at ICAO that will produce positive, tangible results."

Today, commercial airlines account for less than 2 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States and only 2 percent on a worldwide basis, says a spokesperson. Even so, A4A is part of a worldwide aviation coalition committed to further addressing aviation CO2 emissions through a global framework.