Airlines seek to escape climate-change dog house (Reuters)

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Airlines seek to escape climate-change dog house

By Allan Dowd
Tue Jun 5, 5:36 PM ET

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - International airline
executives agree they are losing the public relations battle
over their industry's role in global warming, but they are
still grappling with how to win back public and political
support.

Executives in Vancouver this week for the International Air
Transport Association's (IATA) annual meeting, have warmed
to carbon emissions trading, but only because it is viewed as
less punitive than alternatives such as carbon taxes.

"We've lost the PR battle and we're not going to win the
emissions battle by chattering with more PR about the past.
They (the public) want to see action," Leo Van Wijk, chief
executive of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, told his colleagues on
Tuesday.

Van Wijk said the aviation industry is paying the price of
ignoring warnings that environmental issues -- especially in
Europe -- were becoming a political concern on a par with
public and government worries over safety and security.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070605/wl_canada_nm/canada_climate_airlines_col

[razzleberry]

1. tax on jet fuel for international flight, zero, not a panny

tax on jet for for domestic US flight,
four cents a gallon