What happens when two items high on the Green agenda collide with each other? One thing for sure, it isn’t a pretty sight.
Such is currently the case concerning “ozone depletion” and “global warming.”
Through the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the Greens clamored for the adoption of refrigerant HFCs, or hydrofluorocarbons, to replace older refrigerant chemicals (CFCs) that were said to be punching a hole in the ozone layer.
Today, HFCs, that same chemical the Greens were in love with, is now claimed to be causing – you guessed it – global warming.
That is the basis for the little known “Kigali Amendment” to the Montreal Protocol, adopted in 2016. Through this amendment, the Greens want to replace HFCs with HFOs (hydrofluoroolefins) in air conditioners, refrigerators, cars, and much more.
HFCs are currently selling for around $7 per pound, while the most common HFO is selling for over $70 per pound.
If companies want to start incorporating HFOs into their appliances, they are completely free to do so. But the American public should not have it forced down their throat by the UN bureaucracy.
Most studies have concluded that fully implementing the Kigali Amendment would reduce the global mean temperature by an unmeasurable amount by 2050.
The Trump administration is considering whether to send Kigali to the Senate for ratification. Like most radical environmentalist initiatives, the Kigali Amendment provides little environmental benefit in exchange for the extreme economic cost.
That’s why CFACT signed onto a letter with 22 other free-market groups urging the President to oppose the inclusion of the United States in the Kigali Amendment.
You can read the entire letter at CFACT.org
As the letter states, Washington needs to “cut red tape, not add to it.”
Going after HFCs will no doubt greatly enrich a few corporations who want to sell us expensive new refrigerants and equipment, but would not affect global temperature enough to measure.
It’s time for the Trump White House to send the Kilgali Amendment off on the same train out of town it did the Paris Accord.
Read more at CFACT
My employer has immense olefins manufacturing capability around the world. I’m pretty sure we, as a corporation, would love to participate in this new marketplace supporting the United Nations push to prevent climate change, if it were actually caused by humans.
Every olefins company would love the postive press that would be available.
William, you’re right. I appreciate living near an ethanol plant that buys my corn. I don’t believe that ethanol fuel affects the climate one way or the other, but I’ll take it. Politics created the North American ethanol business. Trump supports it for political reasons.
As for environmentally “friendlier” refrigerants, does the gain justify the pain. No.
Is the Useless Nations that stupid enough to take John Kerry’s mindless Banter seriously? well this is even more reasons to Get Us out of the UN and tear up all those useless treaties
“Get the U.S. out of the U.N. – and the U.N. out of the U.S.” It used to show up on bus stop seats back in the 1970’s. I’d suggest that they relocate to a small village in northern Sweden – their hot air could help warm the building…..
The Kigali Amendment should not be treated the same as the Paris Treaty. It should be submitted to the US Senate, where defeat is certain. That is what should have been done with the Paris Treaty.
It is certain that many of the greens think that our standard of living is excessive. Making refrigerants much more expensive is one way to negatively impact our lives.
The first thing we need to do is remove the Air Conditioners from the Useless Nations building the one that keeps these enemies of America in comfort I am sure its a until that covers the whole UN facility and if they want to force up to give up our Air Condioners then they need to give up theirs and that gose for the UN Grand Poo Head Coffee Cup Ahnan
Kind of ironic that the Montreal heat wave death toll was so high due to lack of air conditioning for the victims.
The entire CFC debacle was a SCAM and the entire HFC debacle is a SCAN just as the entire DDT debacle was a SCAM and the entire AGW debacle is a SCAM
It’s ALL SCAM’s folks!!! … ALL OF IT !!!