UK minister attacks airlines on pollution

LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) A government minister has attacked the world's airlines for not taking climate change seriously, calling Europe's largest budget carrier Ryanair ''the irresponsible face of capitalism''.

Environment Minister Ian Pearson branded the US airline industry ''completely irresponsible'' for opposing a European Commission proposal to include aviation in its scheme to combat global warming by curbing emissions of greenhouse gases.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said Pearson's comments were ''foolish and ill-informed''.

''It is clear that Minister Pearson hasn't a clue what he's talking about,'' Ryanair's Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in a statement.

He said the airline industry creates far less carbon dioxide emissions than road transport and the power generation industry.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Pearson said British Airways was ''only just playing ball'' on the issue.

''Like every other industry, the airline industry has to got to take its share of responsibility for combating climate change,'' he was quoted as saying.

''When it comes to climate change, Ryanair are not just the unacceptable face of capitalism, they are the irresponsible face of capitalism.

''(Michael) O'Leary just seems to take pride in refusing to recognise that climate change is a genuine problem.'' Last month, the European Union's executive arm approved plans to include aviation in its emissions trading system.

The trading scheme -- the EU's key tool to battle global warming and meet Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction targets -- limits the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) big polluters, such as power plants, can emit.

Pearson called on US airlines to back the EU proposals.

''They just seem to be saying they don't want anything to do with the trading scheme and that they will take the EU to court if transatlantic flights are included. It is completely irresponsible,'' he said.

British Airways said it had improved its fuel efficiency by 27 percent since 1990 and is the only airline in the world trading carbon emissions.

''We have been playing hardball on this,'' a BA spokesman said.

''We are totally committed to addressing our climate change impact.'' Former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern said in a hard-hitting report in October urgent action had to be taken to combat global warming, adding that one of the best ways was to make sure that carbon emissions were priced appropriately.

Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth said aviation was one of the fastest growing sources of pollution.

''It is time the world woke up to the colossal threat to our environment from cheap flights and took steps to curb them,'' the group's aviation campaigner Richard Dyer said.

David Castleveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the US airlines' trade body, said airlines create less than 3 percent of emissions.

A British study last year said carbon dioxide emissions from Britain are set to surge by between four and ten times 1990 levels by the middle of the century, driven by a big expansion in air travel.

REUTERS PB KN2130