Bill Blocks U.S. Airlines From EU Law

A day after the European Union suspended its cap on greenhouse gas emissions from airlines, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would exempt U.S. air carriers from participating in the EU effort. The EU system would have required airlines to provide emissions allowances in April 2013 for all 2012 flights to or from EU countries. The House in a Nov. 13 voice vote adopted S. 1956, legislation that the Senate passed in September (C&EN, Oct. 1, page 42). The bill would authorize the Department of Transportation to prohibit U.S. airlines from complying with the EU system. The White House has not yet signaled whether President Barack Obama will sign the measure. A day earlier, the EU announced that it was putting its cap-and-trade requirements for airline emissions on hold until late 2013. The EU said it was temporarily suspending these requirements after “positive discussions” in early November at the International Civil Aviation Organization on a global, market-based system to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from airlines.