Air conditioner units sit in windows of an apartment building on July 20th, 2022, in Washington, DC. | Photo by Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
The Senate finally voted to ratify the landmark Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which commits the US to quickly phase down the use of a certain class of refrigerants that also happens to be a super greenhouse gas.
Specifically, the Kigali Amendment pushes developed countries to slash the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — found in air conditioning, refrigerators, and fire extinguishers — by 85 percent by 2036 The plan was drafted back in 2016 by delegates from countries seeking to update the Montreal Protocol, which sought to protect and repair the ozone layer back in the 1980s. The Montreal Protocol focused on reducing the use of ozone-depleting substances called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons…