E.P.A. to Sharply Limit Powerful Greenhouse Gases

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/climate/EPA-HFCs-hydrofluorocarbons.html

Source: By Lisa Friedman, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency moved on Monday to sharply reduce the use and production of powerful greenhouse gases central to refrigeration and air-conditioning, part of the Biden administration’s larger strategy of trying to slow the pace of global warming.The agency proposed to regulate hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a class of man-made chemicals that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming the planet. The proposal is the first significant step the E.P.A. has taken under President Biden to curb climate change. The move is also the first time the federal government has set national limits on HFCs, which were used to replace ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons in the 1980s but have turned out to be a significant driver of global warming. More than a dozen states have either banned HFCs or are formulating some restrictions....   See also Washington Post article, Swift action to cut methane emissions could slow Earth’s warming by 30 percent, study finds.

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