Thanks to Sipa in Washington DC

For alerting us to this story, which clearly falls squarely on the  business side of green:

The link:  http://www.prisonplanet.com/ba-faces-e50m-bill-for-carbon-emissions.html

Part of the article:


BA faces €50m bill for carbon emissions

Pilita Clark
Financial Times

Sept 19, 2011

"British Airways faces a bill of nearly €50m, the highest of any airline, when carriers around the world are brought into the European Union’s carbon emissions trading scheme next year, a new study estimates.

But BA and other large European carriers will face a relatively smaller burden than their rivals in the US and China, because they should get an average of 81 per cent of the carbon allowances needed under the scheme for free. The Chinese and American carriers will only get an average of up to 64 per cent, says the report by Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, the energy research firm.

The airline industry’s total bill is expected to be €1.1bn ($1.5bn) at today’s carbon prices, the study says. The whole sector may only make a $4bn profit this year, the International Air Transport Association has forecast."


We know, ultimately, these fees get passed to us in airline ticket prices.  The question becomes, does this become enough of an incentive for BA to invest in newer planes or modifications of their current fleet to improve fuel performance and reduce their carbon footprint--which would be a win-win for us and the environment.


We did a show with Cape Air, a wonderful, full-service airlines, serving many different routes, and they made positive changes, as described on the show, in their fleet, buildings and with their employees to become a very green airline.  Let's see BA and others do the same.