Biden to Sign Up for UN’s Limits of Refrigerants

President Biden submitted the Kigali Amendment to the Senate for ratification last night, CEI’s Ben Lieberman reported.

Formally known as the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Kigali Amendment is a United Nations treaty provision that places limits on future production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) on the grounds that they contribute to climate change.

HFCs are the class of refrigerants used in hundreds of millions of American home and vehicle air conditioners as well as home refrigerators. They are also used by millions of American businesses both large and small, from the refrigerators and freezers in restaurant kitchens to the industrial process refrigeration systems used by manufacturers.

Ultimately, if ratified, the Kigali Amendment provision would impose costly restrictions on the American people and serve as a consumer tax on air conditioning and refrigeration – and also give an unfair advantage to China and other industrial competitors of the United States.

In response to Biden’s submission of the amendment, CEI led a group of including 11 other center-right organizations today in opposing ratification: CEI Leads Coalition Letter Urging Senators to Vote Against Ratification of Kigali Amendment

CEI and cosigners of the letter urge the Senate to preserve America’s sovereign authority and vote against ratification of the Kigali Amendment. At the very least, the Senate should hold a hearing in which the implications of the Kigali Amendment are fully explored prior to a ratification vote.

Instead, the most sensible course of action for the Senate is not to entangle the U.S. in another costly and unfair United Nations mandate and focus on oversight of the recently-enacted domestic HFC provisions and consider remedies to emerging problems with them.

READ THE LETTER HERE

And for more information from CEI on the Kigali Amendment, see:

• The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol: Myth vs. Fact

• CEI Report Debunks Myths Advanced by Special Interest Supporters of Kigali Amendment

• Ben Lieberman’s Testimony on Hydrofluorocarbons before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change (01/14/20)

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