Allison Lampert and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON/MONTREAL (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration should exceed global standards designed to curb emissions from flights, as pressure mounts to limit the sector’s greenhouse gases, five states told the White House in a letter https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/aviation-states-letter-oct21.pdf seen by Reuters.

This week, major plane and engine manufacturers joined the airlines in setting a non-binding target of zero net emissions by 2050. However environmentalists warn that governments need to make more regulatory efforts to ensure such targets are achieved.

According to a letter sent by the states to Gina McCarthy (White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy), the Environmental Protection Agency should set global emissions standards for planes landing at U.S. domestic airports.

The Biden Administration did not respond immediately.

The EPA should approve standards to reduce greenhouse gases and air polluting from aircraft engines that enter service after 2030. That is the recommendation of the International Council on Clean Transportation.

According to the letter, “the latest U.S. policy favors aspirational targets and (sustainable aircraft fuel) tax credits over legally bound GHG targets.” Last month, the White House announced it was aiming for 20% lower aviation emissions https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/white-house-targets-20-lower-aviation-emissions-by-2030-2021-09-09 by 2030.

However, if the U.S. tried to be all-inclusive in aviation standards, it would depart from the international standards created by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

International standards are set by the UN agency for everything, from runway markings to investigation of crashes.

According to the California Air Resource Board’s letter and the letters of the attorneys from the other States, “The U.S. should cease outsourcing aircraft emissions policies to ICAO.”

“Airlines have aspirations to zero out their greenhouse gas emissions, but the U.S. doesn’t yet have policies to support that goal,” said Andrei Kodjak, executive director of the Washington-based ICCT. “It’s high time for the Biden administration to adopt standards to accelerate the development of low carbon aircraft and engines.”

In its final days in office, the Trump administration finalized emissions standards https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-epa-finalizing-first-ever-airplane-emissions-rules-2020-12-28 for new airplanes that a dozen U.S. states have challenged as too lenient.

The states and ICCT have proposed that EPA start work to establish new emission standards for all new aircraft engines, which are expected to enter service by 2030 or later.