February 24, 2020
Two days after the release of a new analysis showing that Colorado is way off track on its new greenhouse gas emissions goals, air-quality regulators from Governor Jared Polis’s administration unveiled their bold, aggressive plan to crack down on…refrigerators and air conditioners. Some of them. Eventually.
At the monthly meeting of the state’s Air Quality Control Commission on February 20, commissioners formally voted to begin enacting two sets of greenhouse gas rules, with a final vote expected in May. The first set will require stricter, more frequent reporting of emissions by major pollution sources, while the second will gradually phase out the use of certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a type of greenhouse gas commonly used in refrigerators, air conditioners and certain aerosols.
HFCs account for less than 1 percent of Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions annually, according to a 2019 report from state regulators — but for now, they’re the only category of pollutant that the AQCC plans on regulating as part of its new climate rules.