India bans its airlines from paying EU carbon tax
India has barred its airlines from complying with the European Union carbon tax scheme, joining China in resistance to plans that have caused a backlash among the EU's trade partners.
The European Union imposed a carbon levy on air travel with effect from January 1, but no airline will face a bill until 2013 after this year's carbon emissions have been tallied.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told parliament on Thursday that "the imposition of carbon tax does not arise" because Indian airlines would simply refuse to hand over their emissions data.
"Though the European Union has directed Indian carriers to submit emission details of their aircraft by March 31, 2012, no Indian carrier is submitting them in view of the position of the government," he said.
India's resolution to boycott the scheme follows China's decision last month to prevent its airlines from complying with the EU directive....
..The 27-nation EU has said the carbon tax will help it achieve its goal of cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and that it will not back down on the plan...
...Industry insiders have expressed concern that the scheme could spark a trade war between the EU and the countries opposed to the tax.
The chief executive of European plane manufacturer Airbus, Thomas Enders, called for a "freeze" on the EU plan Thursday, saying that it would otherwise cost the sector thousands of jobs.
"Delay it, freeze it for one or two years," he said according to Dow Jones Newswires, arguing that the scheme "will do nothing but induce strife... retaliation and counter-retaliation."...
Mr Enders, what's the problem? Those thousands of jobs will be replaced by green jobs in bankrupt companies. Works real good...just ask the guys at Solyndra.
But for a more serious look at this BS movement, check this article out.
Climate Fund Seeks UN-Style Diplomatic Immunity
The Green Climate Fund, which is supposed to help mobilize as much as $100 billion a year to lower global greenhouse gases, is seeking a broad blanket of UN-style immunity that would shield its operations from any kind of legal process, including civil and criminal prosecution, in the countries where it operates.
There is just one problem: it is not part of the United Nations.
Whether the fund, which was formally created at a UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa last December, will get all the money it wants to spend is open to question in an era of economic slowdown and fiscal austerity.
Its spending goal comes atop some $30 billion in "fast start-up" money that has been pledged by UN member states to such climate change activities.
A 24-nation interim board of trustees for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is slated to hold its first meeting next month in Switzerland to organize the fund's secretariat and to get it running by November, as well as find a permanent home for the GCF's operations.
The board expects to spend about $6.7 million between now and June of next year...
...Despite its name, the UNFCCC was informed in 2006 by the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs that it was not considered a UN "organ," and therefore could not claim immunity for its subordinate bodies or personnel under the General Convention that has authorized UN immunity since the end of World War II...
...According to an official of the US Treasury, which strongly supports the existence of the GCF, the full extent of the immunities still remains to be worked out by the fund board, although the wording of various UNFCCC resolutions indicate that immunities like those held by the UN are clearly envisaged.
Hundreds of billions of dollars over the years by an unacceptable bureau at the UN that will have major effects on our trade, industry, life. Why should anyone be nervous on this? After the UN is now looking into Voter ID laws in the states and had Libya on the Human Rights Commission. The same group that praised Libya's record on human rights but comdemns the only democracy in the Middle East.
I used to say this was tin foil hat stuff but I've had a change of thought. US out of the UN and UN out of the US. Without US, the UN is nothing. And America will be much better without this group of leaches.
