Obama Protects Airlines From European Carbon Tax

Obama Administration still not serious about climate change:

The EU has set a tax on carbon emissions for all aircraft flying into European countries, all part of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The problem is that Obama has just signed a bill that exempts US airlines from paying that carbon tax.

Specifically the bill gives the US transportation secretary the power to shield US airlines from the tax; an unusual bill, according to Reuters, as it allows US airlines to ignore EU laws.

Clark Stevens, a spokesman from the Whitehouse, explained that “the Obama administration is firmly committed to reducing harmful carbon pollution from civil aviation both domestically and internationally, but, as we have said on many occasions, the application of the EU ETS to non-EU air carriers is the wrong way to achieve that objective.”

He also stated that Obama is focused on finding a global solution to reduce emissions with the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Charles Kennedy notes that efforts to apply a ‘global solution’ have been going nowhere for over 10 years: “It was for this exact reason that the EU got fed up and decided to take matters into their own hands by creating their own aviation carbon tax.”