N.J., Pa. join EPA petition on aircraft emissions

A coalition of five states - including New Jersey and Pennsylvania - plus a handful of cities and environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft operating in the United States. The petition calls on the EPA to determine within six months that aircraft emissions contribute to global warming and pose a danger to public health.

Both yesterday's request and an October petition seeking regulation of emissions from oceangoing vessels build on an April U.S. Supreme Court order that the Bush administration review its refusal to regulate under the Clean Air Act greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

There are no controls on aircraft greenhouse gas emissions, which accounted for 12 percent of U.S. transportation-related emissions in 2006, according to U.S. Energy Department. They are projected to rise 60 percent by 2025 as air transport increases, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

- Bloomberg News