Written by: Gabriella Godlewski
As autumn approaches and the temperatures are finally falling, we can reflect on the extreme heat felt around the world during the summer of 2023. NASA scientists confirmed that July 2023 was “hotter than any other month in the global temperature record,” which dates to 1880.[1] Due to these high temperatures, people felt compelled to stay inside and crank their air conditioners. However, many people do not realize the implications of this practice. Energy and climate researcher Shelie Miller points out that “the more we run air conditioning, the more electricity we use; more electricity releases more greenhouse gases, heating the planet and requiring even more AC to stay cool.”[2] Renee Obringer, an energy researcher, describes people’s use of air conditioning during especially hot seasons as “both a response to what is happening and also a driver.”[3]
Warming around the world is driven primarily by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.[4] Two-thirds of the world’s electricity is produced by burning coal and natural gas, which emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that warm our planet.[5] Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) provide the cooling power to almost any air conditioner in the home, office, supermarket, or car.[6] HFCs are a potent greenhouse gas.[7] These harmful pollutants have an impact on warming our climate that is hundreds to thousands of times greater than the same amount of carbon dioxide.[8] In 2019, annual global warming emissions from HFCs were the equivalent of 175 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.[9] As temperatures rise and air conditioner use is more prevalent, this statistic is only rising.
“In every corner of the country, Americans are right now experiencing firsthand the effects of the climate crisis, underscoring the urgency of President Biden’s historic climate agenda,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.[10] In relevant part, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Biden Administration are attempting to address the climate crisis by phasing down the use of HFCs by 40% from 2024 to 2028.[11] This projection builds upon a 10% phase-down implementation plan for 2023.[12] The overall impact is expected to reduce the equivalent of 15 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.[13]
Energy and environmental researchers argue that the development of new technologies is necessary to “limit these emissions, as the existing, century-old technology is already as efficient as possible.”[14] The Biden Administration’s initiative addresses this concern. Two main action areas the Administration is focusing on to achieve historical reduction of HFCs is supporting the development of HFC alternatives and the advancing of research and testing of HFC alternatives.[15] To do so, according to Ali Zaidi, White House National Climate Advisor, President Biden has brought together a coalition of American manufactures to develop technologies helping to cool without contributing to more global warming.[16] Further, more than $8 million over the next five years will be used to identify and qualify low-global-warming-potential alternatives to HFCs.[17]
Until such alternatives are available, there are other sustainable solutions to consider as an alternative to using air conditioners powered by HFCs, including the use of ceiling and box fans.[18] Additionally, the need for air conditioning may be decreased by keeping blinds and curtains closed during the day to prevent sunlight from heating a room, checking attic ventilation, opening windows when the temperature lowers at night, and changing air filters on air conditioning systems regularly.[19]
[1] Biden Administration Launches Heat.gov with Tools for Communities Facing Extreme Heat, NASA (July 26, 2022), https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-clocks-july-2023-as-hottest-month-on-record-ever-since-1880.
[2] Spoorthy Raman, How Air-Conditioning Creates a Climate Conundrum, Audubon.org (Summer 2022), https://www.audubon.org/magazine/summer-2022/how-air-conditioning-creates-climate-conundrum.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Eric Dean Wilson, AC Feels Great, But It’s Terrible for the Planet. Here’s How to Fix That, Time Magazine (June 30, 2021, 4:07 PM), https://time.com/6077220/air-conditioning-bad-for-planet-how-to-fix/.
[7] Id.
[8] FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Combats Super-Pollutants and Bolsters Domestic Manufacturing with New Programs and Historic Commitments, whitehouse.gov (Sept. 23, 2021), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/09/23/fact-sheet-biden-administration-combats-super-pollutants-and-bolsters-domestic-manufacturing-with-new-programs-and-historic-commitments/.
[9] Wilson, supra note 6.
[10] Biden Administration Launches Heat.gov with Tools for Communities Facing Extreme Heat, supra note 1.
[11] Timothy Gardner, Biden Administration Targets Use of Climate-Warming Industrial Gases, Reuters (July 11, 2023, 3:39 PM), https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/biden-admin-targets-use-climate-warming-industrial-gases-2023-07-11/#:~:text=The%20final%20rule%20implements%20a,in%20aerosols%2C%20and%20foam%20products.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Andrei Ionescu, Air Conditioning is Both a Cause and Effect of Climate Change, earth.com (March 17, 2022), https://www.earth.com/news/air-conditioning-is-both-a-cause-and-effect-of-climate-change/.
[15] EPA Press Office, Biden-Harris Administration Takes Latest Step in National Phasedown of Climate-damaging Hydrofluorocarbons, United States Environmental Protection Agency (July 11, 2023), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-takes-latest-step-national-phasedown-climate-damaging#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%93%20Today%2C%20the%20U.S.%20Environmental,levels%20from%202024%20through%202028.
[16] Id.
[17] FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Combats Super-Pollutants and Bolsters Domestic Manufacturing with New Programs and Historic Commitments, supra note 8.
[18] Maureen Wise, Sustainable Air Conditioning Solutions to Try This Summer, Tom’s, https://www.tomsofmaine.com/good-matters/thinking-sustainably/sustainable-air-conditioning-solutions-try-summer
[19] Id.