Will regulating airline emissions help curb global greenhouse gas emissions?
The United States came one step closer to instituting regulations for greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes on Monday when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published findings about how those emissions 鈥� and welfare.鈥�
This marks a turning point in American airline regulation that advocates say could enable the country to meet defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in February, although many environmental groups say those new rules don't go far enough.聽
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA鈥檚 鈥渆ndangerment finding鈥� the agency to move forward with drafting regulations. The agency found that airplane emissions contain 鈥渟ix well-mixed鈥� greenhouse gases that are 鈥渃onsidered as a combined group and together are the of human-induced climate change and the resulting impacts on public health and welfare.鈥�
Groups like Environment America, a federation of state-based environmental advocacy organizations,聽are urging for, which will regulate future aircraft. Meanwhile, conservative legislators request that regulations be lenient.
鈥淭he sky is the limit when it comes to how much of the U.S. economy the ,鈥� Rep. Lamar Smith (R) of Texas, the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, said in a statement. Representative Smith said that the rules would increase ticket prices and hurt airlines.
However, the EPA sees the best path forward in matching international standards. 鈥淥ur No. 1 goal is to secure a ,鈥� said Christopher Grundler, the director of the EPA鈥檚 Office of Transportation and Air Quality, according to The Hill. 鈥淭here are sound environmental policy reasons to do so. An international standard would cover way more aircraft than simply a domestic standard and would secure far more greenhouse gas emission reductions.鈥�
US aircraft contribute only three percent of total US greenhouse gas emissions, and about half a percent of the world's total, according to the EPA. Regulating those emissions has been a priority of the Obama administration, however, and the EPA has been pushed by lawsuits to pursue research about the threat emissions could pose. The agency took its first step toward regulation in June 2015 with聽publication of its preliminary findings about airline emissions.
Despite their small contribution to total greenhouse gases, airplanes are the largest source of emissions not currently regulated by the EPA,聽and US airline emissions are in the United Arab Emirates, according to the World Resources Institute.
The EPA鈥檚 findings cover 89 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from large aircraft, but not helicopters, small turboprop and recreational planes, or military aircraft.
Simply put, the findings show that regulating airline pollution would significantly cut world greenhouse gas emission. 鈥淎ddressing pollution from aircraft is an important element of U.S. efforts to address climate change,鈥� Janet McCabe, the EPA鈥檚 acting assistant administrator for air and radiation, told the press. 鈥淎ircraft are the third-largest contributor to [greenhouse gas] emissions in the U.S. transportation sector, and these emissions are expected to increase in the future.鈥�
Despite the current lack of stringent regulations, airlines have already begun making flying more sustainable by taking measures such as using biofuel instead of jet fuel. The aviation industry also pledged to emissions by 2020.
