EPA Moves to Regulate Airlines' Emissions

Just when U.S. airlines are experiencing an active summer travel season, with four percent more passengers expected than last summer’s banner year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) weighs in on the industry. Their recent verdict: “planet-warming pollution produced by airplanes endangers human health by contributing to climate change.” Such is the basis for their “endangerment finding” under the Clean Air Act, which now triggers the legal requirement to impose the first-ever government regulations of aircraft emissions and extend the EPA’s reach into yet another segment of the U.S. economy.