| 20120322 Time |
Time, March 19, 2012
Page 46,
Business, Sustainability
Hot Air. The E.U. wants airlines to cut carbon. But other nations are balking,
By Bryan Walsh
You know things are bad for environmental policy when the U.S. and China--usually the main antagonists on climate policy--team up to stop Europe from going greener. That's happening now in the battle over a proposed European Union plan to tackle carbon emissions from air travel.
The crux of the problem is this: although airlines spew a relatively modest 3% of global carbon emissions, that share is taking off fast. From 2005 to 2010, air travel's carbon footprint grew by 11.2%, thanks mostly to an explosion in air travel in the developing world. The fact that international flights often cross multiple countries makes it tougher to divvy up responsibility. And while there are ways to make electricity greener, you can't run a 747 on solar panels. If you're going to fly, you're going to warm the planet.
That's why in April the E.U. proposed tackling the problem by enacting legal limits on airline carbon emissions--an action nearly every country outside Europe opposed. At a meeting on Feb. 21 and 22 in Moscow, 29 countries signed a declaration protesting the proposal for trying to stick airlines with unfair costs. If the opposing countries don't strike a compromise with E.U. regulators soon, the result would be a trade war...
David CK Chang, SSN057-86-4042,
March 22, 2012, Thursday,
New Taipei City Library,
Panchiao, New Taipei City
