EPA rule sharply limits hydrofluorocarbons, gases used as refrigerants

ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 23, 2021

In what officials call a key step to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is sharply limiting domestic production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. The new rule announced Thursday follows through on a law Congress passed last year and is intended to decrease U.S. production and use of HFCs by 85 percent over the next 15 years, part of a global phaseout designed to slow global warming. The administration also is taking steps to crack down on imports of HFCs, greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide.