"Revealed: US airlines lobbied EU over its plan to monitor plane emissions"

Lobbyists from Airlines for America argued against European Commission draft rules to report cocktail of pollutants, freedom of information requests show

US airlines lobbied against plans to monitor the damage wrought by planet-heating pollutants pumped out of planes in a previously undisclosed meeting with the European Commission, the Guardian can reveal.

Lobbyists from Airlines for America and some of its member companies met representatives of the European Commission’s climate team in May in a meeting that is not logged on the participants’ pages in the EU transparency register. The commission said the meeting took place at a technical level and that it is under no obligation to publish details of meetings at lower levels of its hierarchy.

Minutes of the meeting obtained via freedom of information requests show that Airlines for America argued against including flights to and from destinations outside Europe in draft rules to report aircraft pollution beyond carbon dioxide. The group argued there was uncertainty in the science around contrails – the heat-trapping white lines that can stain the sky behind aircraft – and expressed concerns that the rules could influence pricing.

The group’s lobbying has been “flying under the radar,” said Lucca Ewbank from nonprofit InfluenceMap, which shared the documents with the Guardian. “Non-CO2 emissions may account for up to two-thirds of the climate impacts of flying, and yet US airlines are trying to dodge accountability for the extra climate warming long-haul flights may cause.”[...]

Minutes of the meeting between US airlines and the commission show it was attended by the industry association Airlines for America; Penta, a consultancy acting on its behalf; and US airlines such as United Airlines, FedEx and Delta Airlines.

Delta and Penta did not respond to a request for comment. United and FedEx referred the Guardian to Airlines for America, which said it conducts frequent meetings with its EU counterparts on issues of interest to its members. “Penta and Airlines for America are listed on the EU transparency register and our meetings are in compliance with all regulatory requirements.” [...]