Senate ratifies international climate deal on refrigerants

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major action to address climate change, the Senate on Wednesday ratified an international agreement that compels the United States and other countries to limit use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning that are far more powerful than carbon dioxide.

The so-called Kigali Amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on ozone pollution requires participating nations to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, also known as HFCs, by 85% over the next 14 years, as part of a global phaseout intended to slow climate change.

The Senate approved the treaty, 69-27, above the two-thirds margin required for ratification.

HFCs are considered a major driver of global warming and are being targeted worldwide. Nearly 200 nations reached a deal in 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda, to limit HFCs and find substitutes more friendly to the atmosphere. More than 130 nations, including China, India and Russia, have formally ratified the agreement, which scientists say could help the world avoid a half-degree Celsius of global warming.

President Joe Biden pledged to embrace the Kigali deal during the 2020 presidential campaign and submitted the agreement to the Senate last year, months after the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule that would limit U.S. production and use of HFCs in line with Kigali. The EPA rule, in turn, followed a 2020 law passed by Congress authorizing a 15-year phaseout of HFCs in the U.S.

"The Kigali Amendment will be one of the most significant bipartisan measures the Senate takes on all year,'' said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

By ratifying the treaty, “not only will we protect our planet,'' Schumer said Tuesday, but senators also will provide "a golden...