Biden’s EPA orders slash in climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
U.S. Environmental Safety Company Administrator Michael Regan testifies earlier than a Senate Appropriations Committee Inside, Surroundings, and Associated Companies Subcommittee listening to on the EPA’s funds request on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 9, 2021.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
The Environmental Safety Company is sharply curbing the use and manufacturing of hydrofluorocarbons, the climate-warming chemical substances extensively utilized in air-conditioning and refrigeration.
The transfer is the Biden administration’s first main regulatory motion to scale back home greenhouse fuel emissions. It is also the primary time the federal authorities has set nationwide requirements on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, that are hundreds of occasions stronger than carbon dioxide at heating up the planet. The EPA mentioned the rule might keep away from as much as 0.5 levels Celsius of worldwide warming by the tip of the century.
The company will start regulating the chemical substances subsequent yr, and can power trade to curb manufacturing and imports by 85% over the subsequent 15 years, officers mentioned throughout a digital press briefing on Wednesday. The EPA proposed the rule in March and can finalize it on Thursday.
The company’s rule is anticipated to scale back the equal of 4.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by mid-century, or roughly three years’ price of emissions from the nation’s energy sector at 2019 ranges, according to estimates from the EPA.
Such a discount would assist the Biden administration’s pledge to curb U.S. emissions by in half by 2030 and attain a net-zero financial system by 2050. The president issued an govt order in January that requested Congress to ratify the 2016 Kigali Modification to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which goals for the phase-down of HFCs.
White Home local weather adviser Gina McCarthy on Wednesday known as the company’s rule a victory for combatting local weather change and securing U.S. jobs.
“As we transfer on this route, we’re additionally opening up an enormous alternative for American industries,” McCarthy mentioned in the course of the briefing. “Decreasing HFCs is a big local weather success story.”
Emissions from HFCs rose between 2018 and 2019, in line with the EPA, as demand for air-conditioning and refrigeration soared throughout historic excessive temperatures within the U.S.
Some U.S. producers have already moved to extra climate-friendly refrigerants, and a few main chemical firms have supported the EPA’s proposal to section down HFCs, together with The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, a commerce group that represents producers of heating and cooling gear.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan mentioned the brand new limits will assist the nation transition to extra energy-efficient cooling applied sciences whereas creating new jobs.
“This motion reaffirms what President Biden all the time says: When he thinks about local weather, he thinks about jobs,” Regan mentioned in the course of the briefing. “His administration is aware of that what’s good for the surroundings is nice for the financial system.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/23/bidens-epa-orders-slash-in-climate-warming-hydrofluorocarbons-hfcs.html | Biden’s EPA orders slash in climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
