In a joint effort with U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-New York), Sen. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) is taking aim at “fat cat” corporate aircraft with a bill to increase fuel taxes for private jets ninefold from the current 21.9 cents per gallon to $1.95. Entitling the bill the Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax—or FATCAT—Act, Markey estimated that the tax increase would be the equivalent of charging about $200 per tonne of a private jet's CO2 emissions. The FATCAT Act would also remove fuel-tax exemptions for logging and oil and gas exploration.
Resulting tax revenue would help fund a newly created Clean Communities Trust Fund “to support air monitoring for environmental justice communities and long-term investments in clean, affordable public transportation across the country—including passenger rail and bus routes near commercial airports,” according to Markey.
His announcement further stated that “per passenger, private jets pollute up to 14 times more than commercial flights and 50 times more than trains, producing as much emissions as millions of cars every year in the U.S. Despite their sky-high emissions per passenger, private air travel is taxed considerably less than commercial air travel.”
“It’s time to ground these fat cats and make them pay their fair share,” Markey said. “The 1 percent can’t free ride on our environment and our infrastructure at a discount.” Velázquez added, “Working families shouldn't subsidize the ultra-wealthy to fly private and destroy our environment.”
Cosponsoring the Senate version of the legislation are Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island). Supporting the initiative are Transportation for America, Americans for Tax Fairness, Patriotic Millionaires, Public Citizen, and the Sunrise Movement.
While the path forward for such a bill is unclear, particularly in the House, Markey is introducing it as the Senate prepares for consideration of the comprehensive FAA reauthorization bill. In addition, it comes as environmental justice organizations have stepped up their protests against the use of private jets in Europe, throwing paint and chaining or gluing themselves to aircraft.