Obama quietly signs bill shielding airlines from carbon fees in Europe

Well, Europe can initiate a tax on any ticket they want that lands in Europe and the United States shouldn't have a say in it. The airports are not in our countries, any of our companies doing businesses in their country have to follow their rules in that country or get out. I think it will be a silent thing, not showing up as a tax. That way the Americans will not see it. If we charge a surcharge for homeland security, every traveler has to pay it. If they don't want to pay it, stay in your country. I wonder what is going on behind closed doors. This is just a paperwork issue, the president cannot stop other countries from putting a fee on their part of a ticket.

Putting a fee on the airline is the wrong way to do it. Every country tacks a fee on their ticket if the plane lands there.

reply to post by BlindBastards

So, what’s to stop any country exempting any of their industries from any other carbon charges? Can Australia exempt QANTAS? Seems a bit us. You’re flying over their air space and should be subject to their laws.

I do not agree.. They should pay carbon tax. It has been deemed by the European Court of Justice that the tax on CO2 pollution from aircraft is legal. So the US can sign any bill it wishes. If the aircraft land in European airspace they will pay the tax and rightly so. If you do not want to pay it land your planes somewhere else or have your jets impounded.

Pollution comes at a cost. It is irresponsible of the USA to think they can continue polluting our planet and not pay for it..

reply to post by purplemer


Except what gives them the right to tax the portion of the flight that doesn't take place in Europe? I have no problem with them taxing the Europe legs. But what gives them the right to tax the flight from departure to arrival, when one end of the trip is nowhere near Europe?

reply to post by Zaphod58


It is legally allowed. That is what the European Union is about and there is nothing wrong with doing it. Just like a country can impose an import tax on something if it so wishes and if people do not like it they can take there bussines somewhere else. The EU is trying to do something about pollution. It would be nice to see some of the other big boys like the US and China doing the same..

reply to post by purplemer


It would be nice, but instead of taxing US, or Chinese or Australian flights from the time they depart their home country, find a way to reduce emissions. A carbon tax is a way to say "look, we're doing something" without actually addressing the real issue of the emissions themselves. As someone else said, that means they could theoretically eventually tax us for breathing.

Like I said, if the EU wants to tax for the legs in Europe, fine, have at it. But they don't have the right to tax for the entire flight. What's to stop them from taxing a flight that originates in LA, stops in Chicago, and then in New York for every leg of that, since it stops in Europe? The LA-NY segment has nothing to do with them, and they don't have the right to tax it. If the flight originates in the US, and operates in the US first, it doesn't have anything to do with Europe until it's on the way.

I agree completely that something needs to be done about emissions, and emissions have been reduced a lot with the new engines. But let's find something better than a tax that's going to be passed on to the consumer, and hurt the consumer. Let's find a way to reduce the number of flights, while moving the same number of people. Or come up with an even more efficient engine that has lower emissions, instead of a carbon tax.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Taxing is a way of making airliners reduce their emmisions. Money talks. The more expensive fuel becomes the more likely they are to do something about it. In the UK the cost of petrol has continued to rise. People now drive around with smaller more efficient engines. I would like to think although I do not know that the money raises from this tax will be used for CO2 mitigation...

reply to post by purplemer


Except they don't. They just pass on the cost to the consumer, who will still end up paying because they want to go to Europe. Some people may change their plans and not go, but you won't see a significant decrease, I don't think. So many people go on business, or it won't hurt them as much because they have the money to go already. The only people that might be hurt are the ones that have had to save up for years to go, and if that's the case, they're going to probably still pay to go anyway. The airlines will pass the cost on to passengers that are travelling in the US, and not going to Europe as well, so as to keep the overall cost increase down so people can still travel there, and they can make more money.