The American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020 demonstrated a rare, broad bipartisan consensus on trade, economic competitiveness, and environmental issues. The AIM Act, signed into law by President Trump during his first term, is a straightforward, commonsense policy approach backed by economic imperatives and sound science, with the benefit of also improving environmental outcomes.
The AIM Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set a 15-year timetable to phaseout domestic production and use of third-generation hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, in favor of fourth-generation technology. This bill drives the advancement of fluorine gas (f-gas) technology and provides America with a competitive advantage by:
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- Providing more efficient and affordable ways to cool data centers vital to maintaining America’s leadership in artificial intelligence.
- Facilitating the production of semiconductors necessary to populate these data centers by providing domestically produced f-gases.
- Saving consumes money over the long term by lowering air conditioning and refrigeration costs in vehicles, office buildings, homes, grocery stores, transportation, and more.
As in many sectors, America’s leadership is being undermined by unscrupulous actors, including hostile states like China, that are illegally dumping HFCs and other refrigerants into the United States despite our laws and international treaties to which most countries are also party. Not only does this harm American manufacturers and run counter to the commonsense approach of the AIM Act but also harms consumers by exposing their HVAC systems to refrigerants that are mislabeled and have negative impacts on durability, local code compliance, and operating costs.
To maximize the benefits of the AIM Act, the Trump Administration and Congress can take five simple steps:
- Give explicit authority to Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to interdict illegal HFC imports at ports of entry, as well as those already stored in US warehouses that are suspected of having been imported to avoid quota or tariff enforcement.
- EPA should reallocate remaining HFC allowances from noncompliant actors – both importers and domestic blenders – found to be illegally dumping material or facilitating duty avoidance in the US.
- The EPA must maintain the current applicable Technology Transition Rule (TTR) and continue to advance future iterations so as not to harm American companies to the benefit of illegal actors and foreign industry.
- Congressional authorizers and appropriators should use their oversight authorities to ensure the AIM Act is implemented according to its authors’ intent.
- As the Trump Administration renegotiates or modifies trade agreements, whether within the USMCA or trade partners beyond North America, it should incorporate considerations of the HFO phasedown within their terms.
.@POTUS’ IRA is driving up Part D premiums for millions of Medicare beneficiaries, yet Dems like @SenSanders continue to help tout this disastrous legislation. The Biden-Harris @WhiteHouse is misleading the public on their policy’s real impact.
Two weeks from election day, the supposedly independent @FCC is proposing price regulation of #broadband by restricting what data plans companies can offer.
By prohibiting usage-based plans, the FCC would end up increasing prices FOR EVERYONE, including low-data users!
CASE Letter Urges FDA & FTC to Scrutinize Deal Between L’Oréal and Galderma -- "Both companies are currently under investigation or facing sizable lawsuits from claims that they have used harmful chemicals in their products."
https://caseforconsumers.org/2024/10/21/case-letter-urges-fda-ftc-to-scrutinize-deal-between-loreal-and-galderma/