Daily Management Review

UK Environment Agency Fines Donald Trump for Pollution From one of his Private Jets


01/11/2016




UK Environment Agency Fines Donald Trump for Pollution From one of his Private Jets
Donald Trump, the controversial US presidential candidate and climate change sceptic now faces a fine for the carbon pollution from one of his enormous private jets as a possible deterrent even as a parliamentary petition backed by 500,000 people has so far failed to bar Donald Trump from the UK.
 
Flights that have also been asked to pay up for flights to and from the UK include those of the Bahrain Royal family, the 21st Century Fox America, the company chaired by Rupert Murdoch, and British construction vehicle manufacturers JCB.
 
A total fine of over £750,000 have been imposed on a total of 25 operators for “failure to surrender sufficient allowances to cover annual reportable emissions” by the Environment Agency which is responsible for enforcing the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) in the UK.
 
Flight operators and polluters are required to either pay €100 or £75 per tonne as fine or have to surrender a carbon permit for every tonne of carbon pollution emitted according to the rules of ETS. While such permits can be bought if needed for about €8 currently, many of the air operators are given permits for free b the environment agency.
 
A total penalty of £1,610 has been clammed on Donald Trump possibly for a air plane that was used by him to come to the UK. The plane that Trump used is owned by DJT Operations I LLC and is a $100m Boeing 757 that he uses as a private jet which is complete with master bedroom and gold taps.
  
There is generally space for 200 to 300 passengers in the Boeing 757 which is around 54 meters long. The period of the fine as was published on January 5 covers the time in 2012 when Trump opened his golf course in Aberdeenshire.
 
The aim of this step by the ETS is to reduce climate change by limiting carbon emissions. The concept of climate change has been termed as “bullshit” by Trump earlier and, according to the US presidential candidate, has been “created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive”. Hence the fine is not likely to impress Trump.
 
There was however no immediate response from Trump and his campaign communications manager.
 
A much heftier fine of £60,698 has been imposed on the Bahrain royal family while 21st Century Fox America was fined £17,463.
 
A series of private jet operators, insurance giant AIG, Air India and a “MIG Russian Aircraft”, which was not a military plane are among the 25 operators that have been fined. The biggest fine of £157,596 was slammed on JCB Ltd.
 
“The EU Emissions Trading System is an important means of regulating emissions from aviation operators. The Environment Agency’s enforcement activity is part of coordinated action across Europe,” said Liz Parkes, Environmental Agency deputy director of climate change and business services.
 
Confidentiality rules mean the EA is unable to disclose whether fines have been paid or not.
 
(Source:www.theguardian.com)