Boeing backs Trump airplane emissions rules challenged by US states

Boeing Tuesday backed first-ever fuel efficiency standards for new airplanes finalized by the Trump administration in its waning days that a dozen US states have challenged as too lenient, and that President Joe Biden's administration is reviewing. The largest US planemaker asked a US appeals court in Washington for approval to intervene on behalf of the EPA, which is being sued over its decision to finalize the first-ever standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes. The plaintiffs, 12 states, the District of Columbia and three environmental groups, want tougher emissions rules. The states said last fall the EPA rule lags "existing technology by more than 10 years and would result in no GHG reductions at all compared to business-as-usual." Airplanes have been the largest source of transportation greenhouse gas emissions not subject to rules. In 2016, the UN ICAO agreed on global airplane emissions standards aimed at makers of small and large planes, including Airbus and Boeing, which both endorsed the rules. Boeing noted the ICAO emissions standards effort began under former President Barack Obama's administration, in which Biden was VP. The planemaker argued that it is "essential" rules "be reasonably achievable, given the billions of dollars it costs to design, build, and certify new airplanes."<br/>