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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration completed its first major regulation to directly limit greenhouse gases on Thursday, as part of an effort to showcase America’s progress on global warming ahead of a crucial climate summit in Glasgow in November.
The measure will prevent the production and use of powerful planet-warming chemicals called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, used in air conditioners and refrigerators. Without the new regulation, President Biden would be in danger of coming to the United Nations summit with few concrete emissions reduction measures to support calls for global action against climate change.
Mr. Biden has pledged to reduce United States emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade. However, legislation that includes policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, the most common greenhouse gas and the most difficult to address politically, face uncertain expectations in a sharply divided Congress.
“The outlook for meaningful broad-based climate legislation is not very good,” said Robert N. Stavins, an environmental economist at Harvard University. He said this makes regulatory action “much more important” to curb HFCs and methane, another potent greenhouse gas.
new Environmental Protection Agency ruleThe law, which will come into effect next month, Congress approved under former President Donald J. Trump. Contrary to efforts to reduce fossil fuels, plans to reduce HFCs have received broad support from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as industry groups and environmental organizations.
The regulation will reduce HFCs by 85 percent over the next 15 years. According to the White House, this would be equivalent to eliminating 4.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, or about three years of climate pollution from the electricity sector, by 2050.
Under the new rule, the EPA will gradually reduce the production and use of HFCs, starting with a 10 percent reduction next year. The White House also announced that it will invest $8 million over the next five years to promote the use of alternative chemicals and support enforcement efforts to curb the illegal production and import of HFCs.
“Cutting these climate superpollutants protects our environment, boosts our economy, and shows America is back in leading the world in tackling climate change,” Environmental Protection Agency director Michael S. Regan said in a statement. .
Industry executives said they put aside their typical distaste for government rules to support the measure as it would help domestic producers. Along with other countries moving away from HFCs, many have described the rule as protecting the $206 billion annual industry by helping put all manufacturers on a level playing field and helping to support alternatives.
“This allows us to make a complex technology transition,” said Kevin Fay, executive director of the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, an industry organization.
Mr. Fay added that he was particularly relieved that companies were seeing tough enforcement measures, adding that “it signals bad actors that they will have a hard time getting into the market because we will be looking for them.”
Several industry leaders said they were told by the White House that Mr. Biden plans to send the Kigali Accord. 2016 agreement to phase out HFCs The agreement, signed in the capital of Rwanda, has been submitted to the Senate for ratification soon.
Stephen R. Yurek, president and CEO of the Institute for Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration, a trade association, said embracing the Kigali agreement will be important even as the United States is already moving towards implementing it.
“It’s about reputation and reliability,” he said. He said formally joining the broader global effort is “good for the environment, good for the economy and good for trade”.
Environmental groups have described the new regulation as critical to putting the United States on track to reduce 50 to 52 percent of 2005 levels by the end of this decade, as Mr. Biden promised, and to protect the planet from warming beyond a dangerous climate. threshold.
“Moving from HFCs to climate-friendly alternatives is an important part of President Biden’s plan to tackle the climate crisis,” said David Doniger, senior strategic director of the climate and clean energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Delaware Democratic Senator Tom Carper and one of the co-sponsors of Mr. Kennedy’s measure last year to reduce HFCs said the rule would create jobs.
“It’s a dunk, plain and simple,” he said in a statement. “The phasing out of HFCs will support American leadership in manufacturing and innovation, lower global temperatures, strengthen our economy and help save our planet,” he said.
Among several critics of the new policy, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, also opposes the idea that climate change poses a major threat to the United States. The organization has issued a statement stating that reducing HFCs will increase the costs of new refrigerators and air conditioners and the repair prices of old ones.
Industry officials dispute this, stating that the cooling compound represents about 1 percent of the cost of a cooling device. Francis Dietz, vice president of public relations at the Institute for Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration, a trade group, also pointed out that manufacturers have years of experience in phasing out coolants that later turned out to be dangerous.
Alternatives are already being produced, but until regulation takes effect, there isn’t a big enough market for them in the United States, he said.
“We were dealing with the idea that it would increase costs forever. We disagree,” said Mr. Dietz.
Many refrigerators and air conditioners used in the United States still use HFCs today, but a growing number of manufacturers have moved to limit the use and introduce new models that are more climate-friendly, known as hydrofluoroolefins or HFOs.
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