Airlines must bear responsibility for climate

In the dispute over CO2 taxes for airlines, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard has called for a standardised tax system. Since 1 January 2012 all airlines that take off or land at EU airports have had to purchase CO2 certificates - a measure the US, Russia and China plan to boycott. The left-liberal daily Politiken backs the Danish Climate Commissioner: "A global agreement on taxes for aviation fuel would be the best option. But until that happens, the EU must lead the way. Therefore Connie Hedegaard's insistence on regulating CO2 emissions at an EU level is the right idea. However the model of airlines buying CO2 quotas in the EU is not. The quota system is complicated, lacks transparency and is bureaucratic. … It would be better to impose a CO2 tax on the consumption of aviation fuel within the EU."

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