Discussion: Environmental Impact

In 2012, the U.S. passed a bill into law prohibiting “operators of civil aircraft of the United States
from participating in the European Union’s emissions trading scheme.” That action threatened
agreements allowing U.S. carriers’ continued operation in EU airspace.
In a post of 200–300 words, briefly explain the aviation aspects of the ETS and describe whether
you think the U.S. was correct in risking a trade war with the EU in passing this bill. Also, include
your opinion on whether the ICAO CORSIA plan goes far enough towards emissions control.
Overview

Smog over a city with blue sky above.
In this module, we will study air transportation’s impact on the environment. Although aviation
accounts for only about 2.5% of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, that still equated to 859
million tons of CO2 in 2017. Looking at only transportation-related emissions, aviation accounts
for 12% as compared to 74% for roadway transportation. However, aviation-related
environmental issues go farther than just carbon emissions. Aircraft also produce low levels of
other greenhouse gasses, and some say condensation trails, or “contrails,” produced by aircraft
have been found to have a global warming effect. Airports also have their share of environmental
concerns due largely to noise, air, and water pollution. Noise is obviously an issue, especially as
many formerly remote airports now find themselves surrounded by neighborhoods. Water
pollution is also a problem, especially at airports that experience significant aircraft de-icing fluid
run-off in the winter months.
One solution that we will study in this module is the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for
International Aviation (CORSIA). CORSIA was developed by the ICAO as a response to the
European Union’s adding of aviation to its Emissions Trading System (ETS). The ETS, a cap and
trade system, required airlines to pay for emissions for any aircraft departing from or arriving to
an EU airport. The problem was that they calculated the tax based on the entire flight. So, in
reality, U.S. airlines flying to or from the U.S. to Europe were being charged a tax by the EU
while flying over U.S. airspace. It was thought that the ETS would cost the aviation industry $3.1
billion between 2012 and 2020. Several countries refused to pay the tax (the so-called “coalition

of the unwilling”) with the U.S. going so far as to pass a law in 2012 prohibiting airlines’
participation in the scheme. The EU backed off amid promises from the ICAO that emissions
standards would be put in place. Those standards, as defined in SARPs Annex 16, identify three
goals for the aviation industry:
Improve fuel efficiency by 1.5% by 2020.
Cap emissions at the 2020 level.
Reduce emissions to half of the 2005 levels by 2050.
Module Objectives
Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
Interpret the ecologic effect of aviation on the global environment. (LO7)
Describe the European Union’s emissions trading system (EU ETS) with respect to global
aviation. (LO7)
Describe methods air carriers are using to control emissions. (LO7)
Describe ICAO efforts to develop carbon emissions limitations for global aviation. (LO7)