President Obama believes that no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change, and his Administration is committed to taking responsible steps to ensure that further damage is not inflicted onto the earth for future generations.
. On Friday, October 13, the White House announced a suite of new private-sector commitments and executive actions that will reduce the use and emissions of the potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). In addition, the White House recognized the robust progress that has been made against the private-sector commitments and executive actions that were announced in September 2014 to address HFCs. In the past year, a series of actions have been taken that will cut consumption of HFCs by the equivalent of more than 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) through 2025. Moreover, the private-sector commitments and executive actions announced to-date will slash U.S. reliance on HFCs and reduce cumulative global consumption of these greenhouse gases by the equivalent of more than 1 billion metric tons of CO2 through 2025. This is equivalent to taking 210 million passenger vehicles off the road for a year.
. On Friday, October 13, the White House announced a suite of new private-sector commitments and executive actions that will reduce the use and emissions of the potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). In addition, the White House recognized the robust progress that has been made against the private-sector commitments and executive actions that were announced in September 2014 to address HFCs. In the past year, a series of actions have been taken that will cut consumption of HFCs by the equivalent of more than 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) through 2025. Moreover, the private-sector commitments and executive actions announced to-date will slash U.S. reliance on HFCs and reduce cumulative global consumption of these greenhouse gases by the equivalent of more than 1 billion metric tons of CO2 through 2025. This is equivalent to taking 210 million passenger vehicles off the road for a year.
HFCs are factory-made chemicals that are primarily used in air conditioning, refrigeration, and foam insulation, and they can be up to 10,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change. Absent ambitious action to limit their use, emissions of HFCs are expected to nearly triple in the U.S. by 2030.
When the President launched his Climate Action Plan, he pledged to reduce emissions of HFCs through both domestic and international leadership. This past July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program that will prohibit the use of certain HFCs where safer and more climate-friendly alternatives are available. Simultaneously, EPA also listed as acceptable additional climate-friendly alternatives in order to expand the options for businesses to use chemicals that are less harmful to the environment.
As a complement to those regulatory measures, today’s commitments and progress demonstrate that U.S. companies are at the cutting edge when it comes to developing the next generation of safe and cost-effective alternatives to HFCs and also incorporating these alternatives into American cars, air conditioners, refrigerators, foams, and other products. These announcements come from a diverse set of companies – including producers of the chemicals, manufacturers of equipment that use HFCs, and end-users – which demonstrates that companies throughout the HFC supply chain are stepping forward to phase out or phase down the use of HFCs and transition to alternatives with lower global warming potential (GWP).
Friday’s announcements also highlight U.S. leadership in addressing HFCs in advance of the Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Dubai in two weeks (November 1-5). The U.S. has been working to negotiate an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs globally, and our bilateral announcements with China, India, Brazil, and others recognize the need to advance progress on managing HFCs through the Montreal Protocol. With strong international action on HFCs, up to 0.5°C of warming could be avoided by the end of the century, substantially furthering our goal to limit global temperature rise.
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