Countries Consider Retaliation for Europe's Airline Emissions Fee

Excerpt from an article in The New York Times
Saturday, February 18, 2012

Countries Consider Retaliation for Europe’s Airline Emissions Fee 

By JAMES KANTER and NICOLA CLARK

BRUSSELS — China, the United States and two dozen other countries are looking at coordinated retaliation — including putting pressure on European airlines and other industries — if Europe tries to enforce a law requiring airlines to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions.

The system, the European Union’s boldest initiative on climate protection to date, has provoked a worldwide outcry and raised the unwelcome prospect of a full-scale trade war. European officials have stood firm while challenging opponents to suggest an equally effective alternative.

The European system requires an airline landing or taking off in Europe to acquire permits corresponding to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the entire flight — regardless of where it originated or ended or the nationality of the airline. The system went into effect this year, although the first payments will not be due until 2013.

Other governments have objected to Europe’s attempt to regulate emissions outside its airspace, while carriers like American Airlines and China Southern are furious because they could face big bills as the number of permits that they need to purchase rises.

In the latest of a series of meetings on the issue, officials from 26 governments will gather in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss a “basket of countermeasures” to block the European system, according to the draft agenda.

Those countermeasures include following China’s lead in banning its airlines from paying the charges unless and until the Chinese government grants permission; imposing punitive levies on European airlines when they fly over other countries’ airspace; reviewing bilateral and “open skies” agreements on landing rights, market access and other matters and freezing consideration of any new routes or capacity, according to a draft discussion paper.

In addition, the paper calls on governments to consider reopening trade agreements in sectors other than aviation and to freeze trade negotiations as a way of “putting pressure on E.U. industries.”

Comment Period Extended; West Butte Wind Project

News release from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:

Comment Period Extended on Permit Request For West Butte Wind Project

The deadline is being extended for people to comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) of a request from West Butte Wind Power, LLC, for a permit that would allow for the “take” of golden eagles at the company’s proposed wind project in central Oregon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.

Notice of the extension to February 17, 2012, published in today’s Federal Register. The previous deadline was February 2, 2012.

“Take” means to kill, harass or disturb the birds, their nests or their eggs. The Service will consider take permits when commitments are made for conservation measures that benefit eagle populations.

This is the first application the Service has received from a proposed wind project for a take permit under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA). Regulations adopted in 2009 enabled the agency to authorize, for the first time, take of eagles for activities that are otherwise lawful but that result in either disturbance or mortality.  Since then, guidelines for issuing the permits to wind projects have been developed.  Permits are only issuable under circumstances that ultimately guarantee the conservation of eagle populations.

“The new deadline will give people additional time to submit comments,” said Chris McKay, Assistant Regional Director for Migratory Birds and State Programs in the Service’s Pacific Region. The agency decided to extend the deadline after receiving several requests to do so.

The West Butte permit, if issued, would allow the take of up to three golden eagles over a period of five years as long as the company fulfills its conservation commitments. In cooperation with the Service, the company developed an avian and bat conservation plan and an eagle conservation plan that describe actions that have been taken to initially avoid and minimize and then mitigate for any remaining adverse effects to eagles. If the permit is granted, there must be no net loss to breeding populations of golden eagles. The proposed wind project, consisting of up to 52 turbines about 30 miles east of Bend, is in an area of low use by golden eagles.

West Butte Wind Power’s eagle conservation plan outlines advanced conservation practices and measures to avoid and minimize impacts, assesses risk, makes commitments for mitigating eagle mortalities, and makes commitments for monitoring bird mortality after the project is built. If the permit is granted, these conservation commitments would become conditions of the permit.

The Service would review the permit every five years to ensure the project was complying with the conditions.

The full text of the draft EA can be downloaded at http://www.fws.gov/pacific/migratorybirds/nepa.html.

Comments can be submitted by:

• Email: pacific_birds@fws.gov. Include “DEA for the West Butte Wind Project” in the subject line of the message.
• U.S. Mail: Please address written comments to Michael Green, Acting Chief, Division of Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 NE 11^th Ave, Portland, OR 97232. Attn.: DEA for the West Butte Wind Project.
• Fax: Michael Green, Acting Chief, Division of Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs, 503-231-2019, Attn.: DEA for the West Butte Wind Project.