“Cancel all your European travel and vacation plans – carbon trading extortion is here“. The European Union apparently has proposed requiring airlines to offset their carbon emissions through carbon trading starting in 2012. Well you know, governments will act as they best see fit. Anthony Watts seems to think that sulking in your basement is preferable to yielding to the totalitarian demands of commie Europeans.
Isn’t that what he’s already doing? Anti-Europe sentiments and statements that carbon trading is a scam get a good workout in the comments.
Wott's Up With That? 
[“Unelected autocrats”, “police state”, blah, blah, blah. – Ben]
This tax could be just a pass-through to the customer (although the higher prices would reduce ridership).
But there’s an obvious competetive advantage in avoiding the carbon trading charges that the European airlines would have to pay.
Of course this situation can be generalized across all industries. And, it indicates the difficulties of going-ahead-alone in advance of international treaties.
Yet I’m awe-struck that the Europeans have advanced this far. From the US of just-say-no politics, to see that there is an EU that is taking this step now, for the benefit of their grandchildren later.