U.S. EPA Lays Ground For Airline Emission Regulations

In a critical procedural step, the United States Environmental Protection Agency made public its official finding that exhaust from commercial jet aviation endangers American lives by contributing to climate change.

The statement provides the legal basis for the federal agency to regulate airline and air freight emissions. Similar findings respecting fossil fuel-burning power plant emissions form the legal foundation for the U.S. government’s moves to reduce the contribution of coal to the country’s power grid.

“The endangerment finding is key,” said Drew Kodjak, executive director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, “because it obligates the EPA to take regulatory action.”

The finding applies only to commercial jets, not to smaller, propeller-driven aircraft. Nonetheless, “large commercial jets account for 11% of all emissions from the global transportation sector,” The Guardian reports. “Aircraft emissions are expected to grow by 50% by 2050 as demand for air travel increases,” and “U.S.-based aircraft are responsible for 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions from commercial aircraft worldwide.”

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has proposed modest goals for improved fuel efficiency in new aircraft developed after 2020, or of any type delivered after 2028. But even if they are adopted, the new rules are only expected to reduce the global air fleet’s total emissions by an estimated 4% per kilometre flown—a shift that would be more than overwhelmed by an anticipated 100-200% increase in air travel volumes between 2000 and 2050.

The new standards “set the bar embarrassingly low,” declared Earthjustice attorney Sarah Burt when they were announced in February. “The aviation industry is sandbagging, which seriously hinders our efforts to meet the commitments we made in Paris.”