Says Congressional Action Will Hamper ICAO Efforts To Resolve Issue

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with an environmental focus have banded together and sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to "reject the airline industry's pressure to file an Article 84 action" blocking U.S. compliance with the EU-ETS. The groups say such a move would be consistent with the administration's to reduce carbon pollution.

"Article 84" is a formal complaint before the ICAO.

In the letter, the groups, including the Climate Protection Campaign, Greenpeace USA, the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, the US Climate Action Network, and the World Wildlife Fund US, say that the industry argument that filing such a formal complaint would assist the ICAO in resolving the dispute is "simply not credible." They say that filing an Article 84 action would more likely extend the debate, and that no such action has been resolved through official ICAO channels.

They also say that the argument that the EU-ETS violates international law "lacks credibility." "The legal arguments against the EU Aviation Directive were thoroughly rebutted by the European Court of Justice (Europe’s equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court) in disposing of litigation brought by U.S.-based airlines. Because the EU Aviation Directive has been determined not to violate national sovereignty nor constitute a charge, there is no basis for an Article 84 action," the letter states. They say that filing a formal complaint is "a transparent effort to allow airlines to evade responsibility for their carbon pollution in perpetuity."

The groups questioned the exclusion of the EU from a recent Washington, DC meeting held to discuss the situation, and call on President Obama and his administration to "lead the effort in ICAO to craft a meaningful global approach on aviation carbon pollution, working together with airlines and civil society."

FMI: Read the Letter