"Federal judges today scrapped another Obama-era effort to crack down on planet-warming gases used in refrigeration and cooling.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated a portion of a 2016 EPA rule aimed at phasing out many uses of hydrofluorocarbons. The judges concluded they were bound by a previous D.C. Circuit decision striking down part of a related 2015 regulation, which focused on other uses.

HFCs are potent greenhouse gases widely adopted in the 1990s as replacements for other substances that harm the ozone layer. But after approving the ozone-friendly HFCs for many uses more than 20 years ago, EPA then sought to replace them with other substitutes that are also climate-safe."

Ellen M. Gilmer reports for Greenwire April 5, 2019. [2]