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Environmental Record

Airplanes can drastically affect the environment in negative ways through the pollutants that they release. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution have asserted that it is likely that aircraft emissions will be a major contributor to the global warming process by 2050. Despite the fact that 2050 is far in the future, airplanes are already having an impacting negative effect on the environment. For example, a commercial flight that travels from New York to Denver will generate around 840 to 1,660 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger. This combined carbon dioxide output is similar to what an SUV creates each month. Continental Airlines, however, has made efforts to minimize their negative effects on the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Design for the Environment Program recognized Continental Airlines in 2008 for their use of a non-chromium surface pretreatment that is environmentally friendly on their airplanes. Continental Airlines is the first airlines to integrate this technology within their airplanes. The product, PreKote, helps eliminate toxins and hazardous chemicals that are usually used in the pretreatment phase before repainting airplanes. This technology provides employees with improved safety conditions, while also reducing wastewater. In addition to this recent award by the EPA, Continental Airlines has previously been awarded by the EPA, and they have also been recognized by NASA and Fortune Magazine for their positive environmental conditions. Continental Airlines has also made other efforts to reduce their environmental impact. The company’s employees have made efforts to focus their operational procedures and 12 billions dollars worth of investment funds into acquiring 270 fuel-efficient airplanes and other related equipment. These efforts have helped to decrease their greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption by 35% per mainline revenue passenger mile over the past 10 years. In addition to these projects, Continental Airlines has also begun a program that provides their passengers with the opportunity to cancel out the damage they might pose on the ozone layer during their flight for two additional dollars. This is the cost that it takes to purchase a “carbon offset,” which helps pay to plant trees. In addition to this, passengers can also contribute 50 dollars or more, which funds renewable-energy projects like wind or solar power and also works to plant algae in oceans or trees in forests. Critics explain that it is hard to measure the success of these efforts because the quality and standards of the passenger’s voluntary offsets can vary.Critics have also said that it is difficult to measure the benefit of carbon offset companies because climate, disease, and natural disasters can often prohibit the new additions to the environment from actually successfully offsetting the carbon that the people have paid for. Another environmentally-friendly idea that Continental Airlines is trying to bring to fruition is flying a biofuel airplane. In 2009, the airline plans to partner with GE Aviation to conduct a demonstration flight. This makes Continental Airlines the first major United States carrier that is publicly releasing plans to conduct a technological advancement using sustainable biofuels.