The Obama administration is preparing to introduce major steps to phase out production of a popular chemical coolant used in refrigerators and air conditioners, citing growing evidence that the substance is contributing to the warming of the planet.
The White House will announce on Tuesday a series of voluntary commitments by some of the country’s largest chemical firms and retailers to move rapidly away from R-134a and similar compounds used in nearly every office, home and automobile in the country, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the effort.
The administration is simultaneously stepping up diplomatic efforts to encourage major U.S. trading partners to phase out production of the potent greenhouse gas, the officials said. The initiatives are being disclosed in advance of next week’s summit of world leaders at the United Nations to debate options for slowing the buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-targets-a-popular-coolant-in-new-effort-to-curb-greenhouse-gases/2014/09/15/cd24c738-3d18-11e4-9587-5dafd96295f0_story.html
From the WaPo link above- looks like India is giving this idea the middle finger…
“The White House also has been lobbying other manufacturers of HFCs in the developing world, particularly India, whose newly elected prime minister, Narendra Modi, is expected to visit Washington for official talks later this month. The Indian government in the past ruled out curbs on its domestic production of HFCs, saying it lacks an alternative. “We are saying we don’t have any alternative technology,” Sushil Kumar, a senior Indian environmental official, told reporters last fall.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-targets-a-popular-coolant-in-new-effort-to-curb-greenhouse-gases/2014/09/15/cd24c738-3d18-11e4-9587-5dafd96295f0_story.html
The replacement, HFO1234yf, is 10 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE.
http://macsworldwide.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/10-questions-and-answers-about-hfo-1234yf/
snark