|
 |
 |
|
Sen. Thune files bill to block EU emissions trading for airlines
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said Wednesday that he was filing a bill to block the European Union from requiring airlines operating in its countries to trade emissions.
The EU is poised to begin requiring U.S. airlines to participate in its Emissions Trading System starting next year. Under the proposed system, which is similar to cap-and-trade proposals environmentalists once tried to push in the United States, airlines from any country would have to trade credits for pollution emitted by flights to European destinations.
The House has approved a similar bar U.S. airlines from being forced to participate in the EU Emission Trading System. Thune said Wednesday it was time for the Senate to follow suit.
"The idea that the European Union has the right to tax American air passengers and carriers flies in the face of our country’s sovereignty,” Thune said in a statement. “I reject this proposed European tax and will work with my colleagues in Congress and countless concerned stakeholders to block this tax.”
Environmentalists have decried the legislative effort to block the emission trading, but the lobbying group for airlines, Airlines for America, hailed Thune for introducing the bill.
“We commend Senator Thune for his leadership in joining the Administration and his colleagues in the House of Representatives in opposing the application of the EU’s ETS to U.S. airlines, as it is both illegal and bad policy," A4A president Nicholas Calio said in statement.
"Subjecting airlines to the EU unilateral system will be counterproductive to helping the environment, result in the loss of U.S. jobs, and hamper airlines’ ability to invest in new aircraft and continue their extensive efforts to reduce their environmental impact,” he continued.
