Industry Says Move Will Force Higher Fares, More Crowded Planes

The EPA has nearly finished work on tougher emissions standards for U.S. airliners, and will announce them "soon," according to published reports.

The agency says airlines are contributing to global warming and endangering public health, and that airlines are responsible for about three percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Worldwide, the EPA says, airlines account for about a third of the gasses it says contributes to global warming.

But the industry says that airlines are among the most efficiency-minded businesses in existence when it comes to emissions. The less fuel an airliner burns, the more money the airline makes. However, Fox News reports that some environmental groups think airlines are not operating at their peak efficiency.

In a statement, Vaughn Jennings, the managing director of government and regulatory communications at Airlines for America (A4A) said that U.S. airlines "have a strong record of fuel efficiency and carbon emissions reduction, having improved their fuel efficiency by 120 percent between 1978 and 2014, saving 3.8 billion metric tons CO2 -- roughly the equivalent of taking 23 million cars off the road in each of those years."

William Becker executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, told Fox News that airlines could be far more efficient, doing things like using lower-carbon fuels and idling engines less. He said that if airlines say they have reached "the peak of their incentive ... now they need a little push from the federal government" to further reduce emissions.

The issue is expected to be on the agenda at the G-7 summit in Germany this week.

FMI: www.epa.gov, www.airlines.org