Super pollutants — California sues Trump administration for ignoring climate-changing fridge chemicals

California and 19 other attorneys generals are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for reversing action on high-polluting refrigerants.

President Trump announced in May that grocery stories and air conditioning companies would get several more years to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a class of very climate-damaging chemicals used in cooling equipment. The change is slated to start July 27.

HFCs are known as “super pollutants” because their impact on climate change is often tens of thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide during their shorter lifespans.

They were supposed to be 85% phased out by 2036. Commercial refrigerators and air conditioners were going to transition to new, less damaging coolants, which are available. The rules were part of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, which Trump signed during his first presidency. Many companies were complying.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, who is co-leading the lawsuit along with attorneys general from Massachusetts and Washington, said he’s challenging the new rule on the grounds that it is “arbitrary and capricious and violates the existing law.”

They filed the petition Tuesday morning with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which handles most regulatory challenges.

“Trump and his EPA are choosing to open the spigot and flood our air with extremely potent greenhouse gasses,” Bonta said at a press conference. “They’re doing so even though most manufacturers have already put in the time and money to transition over to cleaner technologies that don’t use HFC gasses.”

The Environmental Protection Agency did not respond immediately to a request for comment.