The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, and 18 other airline industry stakeholders on September 17 sent a joint letter to President Barack Obama, requesting that he initiate an Article 84 proceeding with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The group is asking for the president’s assistance in addressing complaints regarding the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS).

The letter explains, “An Article 84 proceeding under the Chicago Convention is the dispute mechanism to which all 191 ICAO Member States have agreed by treaty.” By initiating an Article 84 proceeding, President Obama would be asking ICAO’s Council to intervene to address an issue the United States and the EU have not been able to resolve themselves.

The group contends that the EU ETS breaches U.S. sovereignty and adds that “draining away any funds through taxation or cap-and-trade schemes to general government funds reduces the ability of our industry to limit emissions.”

The letter concludes, “Filing an Article 84 action at ICAO has worked to address difficult environmental issues before and the United States should take the lead again. We believe the Administration has all the tools necessary to prevent the EU from implementing its unilateral scheme . . .”

For more details on this story, see the October 2012 issue of Air Line Pilot magazine.