NEW U.S. STANCE ON HFCs PROMPTS ACTIVIST PUSH FOR DUAL TREATY RULES

摘要

Environmentalists are praising President Obama's just-announced support for first-time regulation of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) - a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG) - under the Montreal Protocol for addressing ozone depleting chemicals, but say the administration must build on it by using the pending Copenhagen climate talks as a vehicle for moving HFC limits under both treaties.rnThe new stance announced by the White House Aug. 10 is significant because the administration earlier declined to support addressing HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, in spite of pressure to do so from Congress, activists and some in the international community. Some observers had said the administration's reluctance could have been an effort to maintain its options in climate talks later this year in Copenhagen, where negotiators will craft a successor to the Kyoto climate protocol.rnNow that the administration has embraced using the Montreal Protocol to reduce HFCs, the administration must coordinate its ozone and climate delegations to push the new stance, one activist says, adding, "This is the biggest, most tangible opportunity that we have to protect the climate in our lifetime."