SAN FRANCISCO — October 11, 2023 — In light of a final rule recently published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Clean Cooling Collaborative director Noah Horowitz issued the following statement: 

“As part of the hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) phasedown rule, new air conditioners, heat pumps, and refrigeration equipment manufactured in or imported into the U.S. will soon contain refrigerants that are significantly more climate-friendly than those used today. HFCs are a class of superpollutants that can cause up to 2,000 times more global warming than carbon dioxide.

The shift required by this rule to refrigerants with lower global warming potential is a big deal as it will avoid more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. As an added benefit, consumers and businesses will save up to $4.5 billion on their utility bills through 2050 due to the greater efficiency of new refrigerants.

The Clean Cooling Collaborative commends the EPA for finalizing this rule, both in terms of its scope and level of ambition, as well as the timely effective dates, which begin in 2025. 

We are enormously appreciative of the work done by our implementing partners, the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), who participated in this rulemaking. Our partners provide in-depth analysis on how these new regulations will prevent up to a billion metric tons of harmful emissions.” 

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