Just What We Needed... Experts Say It's "A Matter of Time"

At the Eco-Aviation conference Thursday in Washington, D.C., Natural Resources Defense Council International Climate Policy Director Jake Schmidt told attendees "Within the U.S., aviation will be covered in some form or another. Inevitably it's coming." Several industry experts say they believe it's only a matter of time before emissions standards are applied to aviation, and that it will be important to apply the proper metrics and targets to those standards through the proper regulatory approach.

ATA reports Schmidt pointed to proposed US House of Representatives legislation sponsored by Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) which calls for economy-wide carbon dioxide emissions to be 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, 42% below by 2030 and 82% lower by 2050, and specifically mandates the US Environmental Protection Agency to set CO2 emissions standards for new aircraft and new aircraft engines by 2012.

He said that "global [CO2] emissions need to peak within the next 5-10" years and then start declining in order to prevent damaging climate change, adding that "aviation needs to find its place in this declining baseline."

A representative from the EPA said the agency does not have a public position on how aviation emissions will be addressed, and the FAA said it, too, is considering standards for carbon dioxide. ATA President and CEO James May (pictured above)said the association supports efforts to address aviation CO2 emissions on an international level through ICAO. "Given that aviation is a global industry, we need a global, sector-specific approach to climate change," May said.

FMI: www.epa.gov