Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are making history by flying across America in a 100 percent solar-powered plane that collects enough energy during the day to fly through the night on battery power alone.

The aviation sector shouldn't be left off the hook to help address global warming. Next week Secretary Kerry has the chance to help advance an international agreement to cut aviation's global warming pollution. It is time for his leadership on this issue.

Now is the time for the U.S., China, India, Europe, and South Africa to secure a global aviations agreement that includes an emissions trading program. The deep cuts from the aviation sector necessary to address climate change won't be within reach without such a policy.

Aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon pollution, rising 3 to 4 percent per year. Getting a handle on this problem is critical if we're going to head off catastrophic climate change.