SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS OR RAMPANT McCARTHYISM?

12/03/2007

‘The latest proposals from the leader of the UK's Conservative Party regarding restriction and taxation of air travel for environmental reasons are more akin to the kind of persecution seen during the ‘McCarthy era’ in the United States than the well-considered and balanced policies that environmental protection issues require’ said Mike Ambrose, Director General of the European Regions Airline Association today in a message to airline Presidents throughout Europe.

‘The Conservative policies that were unveiled yesterday are a cause for concern of every citizen in the UK and the European Union. They focus on the irrational persecution of an industry that makes an enormous economic and social contribution to Europe but which is responsible for only a very small percentage of man-made pollution’, he continued.

‘It is true that the European Commission has recently revised its estimate of the percentage of carbon dioxide produced by air transport but this revision was downwards from 3% to only 1.5%. The policies that are now being proposed would have little real environmental benefit but would threaten the jobs and well-being of thousands of the EU's citizens’, he concluded.

ERA strongly supports programmes that would result in genuine and significant environmental performance improvements. For example, the rationalisation of Europe's air traffic management systems - for which governments are responsible - would reduce by around 12% the annual carbon dioxide generated by air transport. Likewise, EU support for European investment in new technology could help speed the development of new quieter aircraft and engines with lower fuel consumption and thus lower emissions.

ERA will continue to advocate constructive balanced solutions for the environment but it will do all in its power to resist policies that misuse legitimate environmental concerns as opportunities for new taxation revenues and short-term political popularity.