⁍ A group of 11 states and the District of Columbia urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen the first-ever proposed standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes and other aircraft.

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⁍ The state attorneys general led by California said the EPA emissions rules proposed in July were ‘entirely insufficient’
The EPA said in July the proposed requirements would apply to new-type designs as of January 2020 and to in-production airplanes or those with amended type certificates starting in 2028.

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– Eleven states and the District of Columbia—including California, New York, and Vermont—are calling on the EPA to strengthen proposed standards on greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes and other aircraft, Reuters reports. According to a letter sent to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler on Monday, the proposed standards proposed in July are “entirely insufficient” and would “lag existing technology by more than 10 years and would result in no GHG reductions at all compared to business-as-usual.” “The EPA can and must adopt effective standards to substantially reduce these emissions, mitigate existing climate harms, and avoid the worst economic and public health outcomes of an unmitigated climate crisis,” the states say. The attorneys general of Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Massachusetts signed on to the letter. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the “sham proposal to regulate it is the equivalent of doing nothing.” The proposed standards would apply to new-type designs as of January 2020 and to in-production airplanes or those with amended type certificates starting in 2028. They are the first-ever proposed standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes and other aircraft. Aircraft account for 12% of all US transportation greenhouse gas emissions and 3% of total US emissions. They are the largest source of transportation greenhouse gas emissions not subject to rules. Wheeler said in July the proposal is based on ‘where the technology is today … You can’t really set the standard that can’t be met.’ Under former President Obama, the EPA declared aircraft emissions posed a public health danger.