Canada, Mexico, U.S. Collaborate to Fight Climate Change
Washington - Canada, Mexico and the United States want to fight climate change by expanding the scope of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
A proposed amendment to the protocol is scheduled to be discussed at an informal meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Geneva in June, and then formally in Uganda in November at the 22nd Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.
The proposal seeks to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are a significant group of greenhouse gases whose uses are growing rapidly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced May 6.
In 2007, governments and scientists who contributed to the Fourth Assessment Report ( http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2007/February/20070213142658lcnirellep0.9777338.html ) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agreed that global warming was indisputable, already occurring and almost certainly due in large part to human activity.
Since then, a range of scientific studies have updated some IPCC findings. Those studies show that the pace of climate change ( http://www.america.gov/st/env-english/2009/March/20090302165011lcnirellep0.8701288.html ), at least in terms of increasing carbon dioxide emissions, melting Arctic ice and warming in Antarctica, might be faster than scientists initially estimated.
The Montreal Protocol, a 1987 international agreement to which the United States is a party, called for phasing out production and consumption of compounds that deplete ozone in the stratosphere - chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform. This was accomplished in 2000 for most of the listed substances and in 2004 for methyl chloroform.
The 20-year-old protocol, widely hailed as a success by scientists and governments, was designed to accommodate new scientific knowledge and the wide-ranging economic realities of developed and developing nations.
The agreement, ratified by 191 countries to help protect the ozone layer of the stratosphere that filters harmful ultraviolet radiation, has been cited as a good model for dealing with climate change ( http://www.america.gov/st/env-english/2007/October/20071018145531lcnirellep0.7443964.html ) and the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases.
It is somewhat ironic that one of the most successful international efforts to counter an environmental threat has contributed to another. During the phase-out of CFCs under the Montreal Protocol, manufacturers of equipment such as car air conditioners and kitchen refrigerators modified their products to use HFCs instead.
The EPA led the data analysis that supports the new proposal to restrict HFCs under the authority of the Montreal Protocol. That analysis demonstrates that phasing out HFCs would garner environmental benefits equivalent to removing greenhouse gas emissions from 59 million passenger cars each year through 2020, and 420 million cars each year through 2050. Reducing the use of HFCs would help slow climate change and curb potential adverse public health effects, according to the EPA.
The trilateral proposal would phase out HFCs, which are up to 14,000 times more damaging to the Earth's climate system than carbon dioxide. Even though efforts over the past decade have reduced total HFC emissions, global atmospheric concentrations of the substance continue to increase. Without international restrictions on this potent class of greenhouse gases, HFC use in developing countries is expected to grow substantially, driven by increased demand for refrigeration and air conditioning.
The EPA, in a May 10 proposed rule, recommended four refrigerants as possible substitutes for use in commercial refrigerators and freezers: isobutane, propane, HCR-188C, and HCR-188C1. These hydrocarbon-based coolants would replace existing refrigerants that harm the stratospheric ozone layer and the climate system.
The proposed rule ( http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0286 ) is open for public comment until July 9. Once the comment period is closed, the EPA will review the comments and can make changes to the proposal based on the comments submitted before adopting a final rule.
There is no deadline for the agency to adopt this rule, but a deadline could be established if the amendment for the Montreal Protocol is adopted. However, the domestic rulemaking can move forward even without an amendment to the protocol. A final rule would restrict U.S.-based emissions even if the international community does not act.
