WASHINGTON, DC, USA, September 21, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy hailed passage by the U.S. Senate today of its advice and consent for the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. “We are thrilled that the Senate has continued the tradition of strong bipartisan support for the Montreal Protocol,” said Alliance Chair Karen Meyers, Vice President of Government Affairs for Rheem Manufacturing, “and cast its vote for U.S. jobs, trade, technology leadership, and the environment.”

The Kigali Amendment advice and consent resolution passed on a 69-27 roll call vote, including support from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The amendment achieves an 85% global phasedown of the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 2047, and is projected to reduce global warming by 0.5 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. HFC compounds are utilized in air-conditioning and refrigeration, foam insulation, mobile air conditioning, medical products and devices, semiconductor manufacturing, and fire protection.

“The Alliance is grateful for the critical bipartisan support for the Amendment, including from the Senate Leadership, Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, and Senators Carper and Kennedy, along with policy makers in the Senate, House and the Administration,” said Alliance Executive Director Kevin Fay. “We have said for six years that we have the bipartisan votes to approve the Kigali Amendment and the implementing legislation, but just because you have the votes does not mean you get one. It could not have happened without the extraordinary leadership in Congress and the continued government, industry, and environmental group cooperation and coordination.”

The Alliance and its member companies have worked for more than a decade on the international policy process that became the Kigali Amendment, and the domestic implementing legislation known as the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act) which was passed and signed into law in December 2020, and have invested billions of dollars in research, development and commercialization of next-generation compounds and technologies to assure continued consumer performance and protect the environment.

“We look forward to pursuing this work in implementing this Amendment in the U.S. and around the globe and in achieving the environmental and economic benefits,” stated Meyers.

The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy (“Alliance”) is an industry coalition of fluorocarbon producers, user entities and trade associations of companies that rely on these compounds. The Alliance was organized in 1980 and has been a leading voice in the development and implementation of ozone protection policy at the global level as well as domestic implementation under Title VI of the Clean Air Act. Today, the Alliance coordinates industry participation in the development of economically and environmentally beneficial international and domestic policies at the nexus of ozone protection and climate change.

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Kevin Fay
The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy
+1 703-841-0626
fay@alliancepolicy.org