Before I get on the bandwagon I want this subject to be a know American household word.
http://www.haarp.net/

Oh, the roboticity! Picture fleets of gigantic, solar-powered dirigibles transporting people and cargo at a leisurely pace across oceans and continents, completely non-polluting, unhurried, even aesthetically pleasing in shades of lavender and pink. They could be buoyed by a non-combustible aerogel of helium, chambers the size of soccer fields holding aloft happy vacationers and the latest toys from China. At 40,000 feet they would glide from place to place with effortless ease.

"Death before being dishonored any more." - Col. Ted Westhusing

MIT, Cambridge conceive quiet, 'green' aircraft
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/airplane.html

Naturally, it won't be ready for prime time for another quarter century.

It'll end when a bunch of us die.

I did inhale.

The carbon tax component of conventional airtravel will become so high as to make low-carbon alternatives economic.

Kyoto pact doesn't say anything about air travel, but in the EU the emission trading will apply to aircarriers too starting from 2011. I assume it will apply to commercial planes landing in the EU.

Additionally France suggested "coal tax" to those importers outside Kyoto pact. (Read: The USA)

-- 101 ways to avoid the subjunctive mood

EU aims to cap airline emissions from 2011
14 Nov 2006 19:00:37 GMT

By Jeff Mason

BRUSSELS, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The European Union, defying the United States, plans to require all airlines flying in its territory to monitor their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 2010 and to join the bloc's emissions trading scheme in 2011.

A draft European Commission proposal obtained by Reuters on Tuesday showed a cap would be set on pollution permits issued to airlines based on average 2004-2006 aviation emissions.

That limit would come into effect in 2011, it said.

"From 2011 emissions from the aviation sector will be subject to a cap and aircraft operators will be required to surrender allowances to cover their emissions," the draft said.

The EU's current emissions trading scheme -- its key tool to fight global warming and meet targets for cutting pollution under the Kyoto Protocol -- puts a limit on the amount of CO2 big polluters such as power plants and oil refineries can emit.

But it excludes international aviation, a major and growing source of pollution as air travel booms.

Companies covered by the scheme buy permits to pollute if they overshoot their target and sell them if they come in below the cap.

The Commission's proposal would cover emissions from all international flights landing in and departing from the EU as well as all domestic flights, the draft said.

That drew fire from industry and is likely to anger the Bush administration, which has opposed EU plans to include aviation.

"We've always been focused on a global solution, so clearly this is Europe going off in its own direction," Anthony Concil, spokesman for airlines group IATA, said.

"We would be very concerned if there were areas (of the EU draft law) that had extraterritorial implications," he said.

EMISSIONS RISING, COSTS SEEN LOW

British Airways said it was disappointed that the emissions cap would cover any flight departing from the EU.

"That will be very difficult to achieve as the EU has no jurisdiction over non-EU states. It could lead to legal challenges (and) delay the release of a workable scheme," a spokesman said.

The draft said greenhouse gas emissions from "EU international aviation" rose 7.5 percent in 2004 compared to 2003, creating an 87 percent cumulative jump from 1990 levels.

The proposal would exclude government and military flights as well as planes that seat fewer than 20 people or weigh less than 20,000 kg at take-off.

more

airtravel accounts for just 3% of anthropogenic CO2. So that even if airtravel is banned entirely it will have little or no effect.