Connecticut joins 3 states in reducing HFCs

Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy last week announced that he has directed the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to develop regulations that will phase out the use of HFCs.

It thus became the fourth U.S. state in recent weeks to target HFCs, following California, New York and Maryland.

Malloy also said that he has committed Connecticut to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance – a coalition of countries, regions, states, and businesses that are committed to phasing out traditional coal power and placing a moratorium on new traditional coal power stations.

The Governor made the announcements while meeting with several of the nation’s governors and leading scientists at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. He also participated last week in meetings of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of U.S. states committed to upholding the Paris Climate Agreement.

Over the next few months, DEEP will begin the rulemaking process to develop regulations to adopt the 2015 and 2016 changes to the federal Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) regarding HFCs.

“If the federal government will not act to mitigate the impacts of climate change, it is incumbent upon states to act to protect the one planet that we have,”said Malloy. “By joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance, and phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons, Connecticut is sustaining its commitment to hold true to the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

“The science is clear – coal burning and hydrofluorocarbon use significantly contributes to climate change, for which we witness the impacts of on a near daily basis,” DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said. “As we are fond at saying at DEEP, the work we do impacts not just those alive today, but those who will be born 100 years from now. Without bold and immediate action by leaders from across the globe, future generations will be left to ask why our generation did not act to address the impacts of climate change when we had the chance. Today Connecticut is standing up to protect those future generations.”