New Law Banning Refrigerant Will Harm Consumers and Benefit Special Interests

WASHINGTON, DC – Congress intends to include ban a chemical commonly used in air-conditioners and refrigerators and extend billions in existing government spending toward unreliable renewable energy sources in a year-end government funding bill, according to reports.

Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell said:

“Congress has once again used must-pass legislation to keep the government funded as the vehicle for adding a number of terrible and terribly expensive giveaways to corporate special interests. Wind and solar power are still at the federal trough, even though the renewable industry have claimed for several years that wind and solar are now cheaper than natural gas, coal, or nuclear. And Senators and Representatives must be hoping Americans celebrating the holidays don’t notice that phasing out common refrigerants will benefit two corporations at the expense of consumers.”

Senior fellow Ben Lieberman said:

“By restricting future production of HFCs, Congress has just raised repair costs on the hundreds of millions of home and vehicle air conditioners that rely on them. The cost of new systems will also increase as most will have to be redesigned to run on one of the pricey substitutes for HFCs, many of which were patented by Honeywell and Chemours who had lobbied Congress for this giveaway.”

Read more:

• Lieberman: The Bipartisan War on Affordable Air Conditioning
• CEI Leads Coalition Letter Opposing Restriction of HFCs
• Senators Should Object to Manchin-Murkowski Costly Energy and Climate Restrictions