EU aviation rule faces House vote

The House could consider a bill this week to block the European Union from requiring airlines operating in its countries to trade emissions.

A bill out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee would bar U.S. airlines from being forced to participate in the EU Emission Trading System, which is similar to cap-and-trade proposals environmentalists once tried to push in the United States.

Officials with the committee said the House could consider the measure, dubbed the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011, sometime this week.

Last week, members of the committee traveled to Montreal to argue against the emissions trading requirement to leaders of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which sets international aviation policy.

“If imposed on Jan. 1, this tax could close down direct travel from most central and western U.S. airports to Europe, and remaining airline ticket costs would skyrocket," Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said in a statement after the meeting with the ICAO.

Also this week, the transportation and infrastructure committee's subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will consider the state of the country's seaports Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the National Ad Council will launch a public service announcement campaign this week to reduce distracted driving. The ad, titled "Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks,” shows the length of time a driver takes his or her eyes off the road to read and respond to a text, leading in the commercial to an accident.

The campaign follows recent remarks by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praising the increase in the number of states that have bans on texting-while-driving under his watch. In a speech this month at the National Press Club in Washington, LaHood said the number has gone from about eight to nearly 40 under his watch. 

---