Limiting pollution from planes, the natural way

I was supposed to be slumped next to my wife and son on an 8-hour flight tonight en route to an 8-day vacation in Austria. Alas, Hurricane Irene made that impossible, shutting down JFK.

Irene wouldn't be reaching New York at its current strength, if ocean temperatures weren't 1 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer today.

While U.S. airlines—with the sorry support of Washington—are fighting the EU over reining in global warming pollution from air travel, the planet has a funny way of making itself heard: Shut down the business altogether, no doubt costing airlines untold amounts more than the EU's important but still timid plan ever would.

Let's all pay the fair share of our pollution any flight inevitably causes, instead of being stuck paying the ultimate price: not flying at all.