EU Will Make Airlines Pay to Pollute

The European Union struck a landmark deal yesterday to regulate carbon emissions from airplanes, requiring carriers to buy pollution credits for all flights entering or leaving airports in the EU. The agreement, which should go into effect in 2012, marks the first time that airlines will have to pay to pollute in the European emissions market the same way that other industrial polluters do, reports the New York Times.

The EU move to apply its emissions policy to airlines of non-European countries is sure to escalate the dispute between Washington and Brussels over how best to curb carbon emissions; one American official warned that the accord could be illegal under international law. The pollution regulations could mean further hikes in airfares across the world, not just in Europe. (More European Union stories.)