Biden EPA Cuts Dangerous Greenhouse Gases Used In Refrigerators, Air Conditioners

September 23, 2021

Read the full article by Graison Dangor (Forbes)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signed a rule phasing out a greenhouse gas that cools refrigerators and air conditioners but warms the planet much more than carbon dioxide, the latest in the Biden administration’s series of actions to limit climate change and adapt to its present effects ahead of a climate change summit in October.

0.5. That’s how many degrees Celsius of global warming are expected to be spared by 2100 through the phasing out of HFCs worldwide, according to the EPA. The European Union in 2015 banned HFCs in fridges, air conditioners and products like foams and sprays that can be made with less-polluting options. China, which both makes and uses the most HFCs, pledged to start reducing the chemicals by 2024 and cut them 80% by 2045 in an agreement that the U.S., EU and more than 100 other countries, according to the Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and the Congressional Research Service.