Applauding India for Taking Action by CityTech Blogger Richard Gonzalez

An article I found that was written about a year ago was very interesting but not surprising. The article appears on the EIA (Environmental investigation Agency) website and the title is “Climate; India acts on HFC-23 as Talks Enter Critical Phase.” The interesting part is that it has been known for years that HFC-23, a by-product in the production of a chemical (HCFC-22) primarily used in air conditioning and refrigeration, a powerful greenhouse gas and a super pollutant, has been a serious cause of ozone depletion and a major cause of global warming. Yet we are giving an excessive amount of time to the manufacturers of these refrigerants. The Montreal Protocol, effective since 1998 (19 years ago) is still half stepping into an important part of our universe’s recovery from the damages mankind has developed but does have the power to mitigate. Environmental engineering / Facility Management students must be mindful of the importance of proper refrigerant recovery. China and India were exposed in illegal venting of refrigerant (HFC-23) but we are all guilty of such destruction when we do not enforce proper recovery of refrigerant.

I applauded India for the announcement of its chemical industry, with immediate effect, to collect and destroy emissions of its most potent greenhouse gas, HFC-23. It was a leading decision the world should follow.