09/15/2009
Call for Reduction in Hydrofluorocarbons Signals U.S. Commitment to Global Climate Agreement WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, today applauded the Obama Administration’s proposal to eliminate dangerous emissions known as Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as part of an international treaty to protect the ozone layer.
The treaty, known as the Montreal Protocol, currently excludes regulations for HFCs which Kerry has called “significantly more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide,” warning that the emissions’ damage “is only going to grow if we don't act in the short term.”
“Anyone who doubted the intentions of the new Administration should pay close attention to this announcement and to those of us in the Senate who urged this ambitious action under the Montreal Protocol,” said Kerry. “Likewise, the growth projections of HFCs alone better be a wakeup call to anyone still left in Congress who doubts the urgent need to address climate change. If allowed to grow, this extremely potent greenhouse gas could counteract global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide. The Administration’s proposal sends another clear signal to the global community that the United States will not remain on the sidelines and will lead efforts to achieve a strong agreement in Copenhagen.”
In April, Senators Kerry and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, sent a letter to President Obama calling for an amendment to the Protocol to achieve an 85% phase-down in HFCs by 2030.
The Obama administration today released details of its national suite of auto standards that would mandate increased fuel economy and impose the first-ever greenhouse gas standard on the nation's cars and trucks.
The proposals are a joint effort by U.S. EPA and the Transportation Department and would go into effect with model year 2012. The standards would push corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards to a fleetwide average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years ahead of the schedule Congress laid out in a 2007 energy law. The carbon dioxide limit under the plan -- which will apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles -- would reach an average of 250 grams per mile per vehicle in 2016.
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Today's announcement fills in the details of Obama's May decision to blend the legal authority the Supreme Court granted EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in its 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA decision with DOT's right to regulate fuel economy under the CAFE program, while still preserving California's right to regulate air pollution under the Clean Air Act.
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Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) said today's announcement would also help send a message to the international community, while still assuring Americans that Obama is viewing environmental decisions through an economic lens.
"The administration, moving forward today through its executive administrative capacity, is a very important component of sending a message to people that we're going to do this across the economy in ways that make sense," Kerry said. "I welcome it. It's long overdue."
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