There is a lot of interest brewing right now in Washington on the issue of climate-change and energy-efficiency legislation. While health-care reform seems to have the nation's eye and ear on every nightly news program, the HVACR industry is staring at the possibility of some dramatic shifts in how it will have to do business - and if an HFC phasedown becomes a reality, find a whole new way to provide comfort for businesses and homeowners.
Various committees are working on pieces of legislation that people, at least from the Democratic side of the aisle, hope will come together next year in a version that will pass both houses of Congress and receive Presidential approval.
When it comes to "cap and trade," much uncertainty remains, though the committee presently working on that portion of the bill has language that will set a base of production/consumption allowances based on HCFC and HFC useage statistics from 04-06. Those allowances would then be "auctioned" off at a growing rate over the next 20 or more years.
The problem with this may be twofold though. One, if Congress realizes that money can be made from these auctions, the Treasury Department and related finance committees could become even more involved in the process - potentially slowing any legislative moves down.
Secondly, the cap and trade program proposal allows a so-called "secondary pool" of allowances. This would allow different groups - including, potentially, those who would have no use for HFC products (speculators, if you will) - to purchase those allowances. Presently, no language exists to force those purchasers to use the allowances for their intent. This certainly could change, but it bears watching.
Just another day in Washington, D.C. for the HVACR trade. Those halcyon days when legislative oversight was hard to find...those, my friends, are long gone.
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