- cross-posted to:
- nyt_gift_articles@sopuli.xyz
- cross-posted to:
- nyt_gift_articles@sopuli.xyz
I’ll note that new consumer appliances shifted away from these a while back. So the cost benefit isn’t for consumers; it’s for corporations which have large existing systems which are leaking.

HFCs include popular refrigerants such as R-134a, which was introduced as a less bad alternative to CFCs such as R-12, but which has also been superseded by even less bad alternatives such as R-1234yf. This has been good for American manufacturing, as it stimulates turnover in durable goods (expensive) rather than just recharging leaking systems with additional refrigerant (cheap):
So this move is a combination of environmental middle finger and drag on US GDP, hurting sales of domestic manufacturing.
Allowing Kroger to further limp along their leaking refrigerators will be somewhat meaningful to their bottom line, by delaying capital expenses that they’ve been expecting to incur (and presumably budgeting for). But it’s not going to be meaningful to retail grocery prices.
Consumers owning old vehicles with bad A/C might benefit from being able to buy more R-134a for a bit longer, but that’s not what’s motivating it, since Trump doesn’t care about the little guy.