On April 2 the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing on the potential to curb aviation’s emissions of greenhouse gases and contribution to global warming. Climate Science Watch, following a CSW report issued in 2007, has criticized the administration’s failure to acknowledge aviation’s contribution to global warming in federal planning documents and has called for aviation emissions to be included in U.S. climate change policy and regulation.
See our July 18, 2007, post: Climate Science Watch report: Federal NextGen aviation planning is ignoring global warming
Full text of the CSW report, NextGen Air Transportation System Progress Reports Ignore Climate Change
On April 2, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing to examine aviation’s impact on global warming. The hearing will be webcast on the Committee’s Web site.
Information on the hearing from the Committee:
“From the Wright Brothers to the Right Solutions: Curbing Soaring Aviation Emissions”
On Wednesday, April 2, 2008, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is holding a hearing titled, “From the Wright Brothers to the Right Solutions: Curbing Soaring Aviation Emissions.” The hearing will take place on April 2, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 1310 of the Longworth House Office Building. Witnesses will be by invitation only.
As Congress examines all causes and impacts of heat-trapping emissions, the Select Committee is assessing aviation’s present contribution to greenhouse gasses and the potential to curb such emissions in the future. Aviation emissions generate 12 percent of U.S. transportation carbon dioxide emissions and three percent of the United States’ total carbon dioxide emissions. The FAA estimates that demand for passenger and cargo aviation in the United States will double or triple by 2025. As the European Union is poised to extend its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to all airlines, it is imperative for Congress to consider how aviation can contribute to or curb heat-trapping emissions through operations, technology and fuel.
WHAT: Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming hearing entitled, “From the Wright Brothers to the Right Solutions: Curbing Soaring Aviation Emissions.”
WHEN: April 2, 2008, 1:30 P.M.
WHERE: Room 1310 of the Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
WHO:
o Dan Elwell, FAA Assistant Administrator for Aviation Policy, Planning, and Environment
o Bob Meyers, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
o Tom Windmuller, Senior Vice President, International Air Transport Association
o James May, President and CEO, Air Transport Association
Additional earlier CSW posts on this issue:
December 5, 2007: States and enviro groups petition EPA to regulate aviation greenhouse emissions
September 18, 2007: When it comes to climate change, should we leave the FAA on auto-pilot?
August 18, 2007: Congressman Markey Queries Federal Aviation Administrator on Failure to Consider Climate Change
August 18, 2007: “In These Times” says U.S. Puts Concerns about Aviation’s Climate Impacts “On Stand-by”—An article published August 15 by In These Times online quotes CSW Director Rick Piltz and echoes concerns raised in a CSW report issued July 18 that the FAA is failing to take into account the potential climate change impacts of aircraft emissions in its long-term planning for the rapidly expanding airline industry.