WASHINGTON
The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) was encouraged by today’s
European Commission’s proposal to “freeze” the application of the EU’s
Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) for flights flying to or from Europe.
The Commission proposes to put a temporary moratorium in place until
after the triennial meeting of the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) in October of 2013, where it is hoped that a mutual
global agreement can be reached.
“Although this is definitely a step in the right direction, we remain
deeply concerned with the unilateral nature of the EU ETS and its
disregard for the sovereignty of non-EU nations,” said Captain Lee Moak,
president of ALPA. “This temporary delay in no way changes ALPA’s
position that the US House of Representatives should quickly vote to
approve the Thune-McCaskill bill that potentially exempts US carriers
from the EU ETS if the Secretary of Transportation deems such
prohibition to be in the public interest. We encourage Congress to
provide this Administration the tools to effectively counter the EU ETS.”
The EU ETS could require all airlines using EU airports to pay
significant amounts for each ton of carbon used over historical
emissions, regardless of nationality of the carrier. It is estimated
that the EU ETS could cost US carriers $3.1 billion in fees over the
next 10 years.
In September 2012, the Senate unanimously passed S.1956, which gives the
Secretary of Transportation the ability to exempt US carriers from
participating in the program and was strongly supported by ALPA. S.1956
is scheduled to be voted on by the House on November 13.
“ICAO is and remains the proper and most appropriate venue to address
the issue of aircraft emissions worldwide,“ said Capt. Moak. “To have
one player determine the rules of the game for everyone cannot and will
not provide solutions to the real problems our industry faces.”
The European Commission proposes to “stop the clock” for one year on the
obligations of airlines to surrender emissions allowances from air
transport to and from the European Union. If ICAO does not produce an
agreement to the liking of the EU, the EU ETS will once again be applied
in full.
Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing
nearly 51,000 pilots at 35 airlines in the United States and Canada.
Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.
ALPA Media, 703-481-4440
media@alpa.org