Actually, the econazis won't be happy until the private car itself is extinct, and we are all riding public transit.

I don't think we have seen the full impact of the destruction of freon yet, in this country or any other. Air conditioning and refrigeration are both more expensive now, and Third World countries are having more trouble preserving food.

Freon worked better mechanically in refrigeration units than its substitute. Current systems have to use more power to do the same job. It was not unusual a few years back to see refrigerators forty years old working perfectly. The compressor units were all but immortal. This is no longer true.

From a U.K. web site that deals with refrigeration (the site is sympathetic towards environmentalists, but still tells it like it is):

The regulations to ban CFC's effectively deals with the ozone layer problem. Global Warming is the next problem that has been highlighted by organisations such as Greenpeace and many world governments have agreed to phase out all refrigerant gases that contribute to global warming.



Eventually, as the agreements stand at the moment, even the new refrigerants such as 134a will be phased out.

At present, the only refrigerants which do not either damage the ozone or significantly contribute to global warming are hydrocarbons (Butane, Propane or mixtures of butane and propane) and ammonia.

Of course, everyone knows that Butane and Propane are explosive - we use them in calor gas / camping gas bottles. The amounts used in refrigerators is so small that the risk of explosion is very small but refrigeration engineers must be specially trained to handle these gases.

Ammonia is very dangerous as it is highly toxic. Again, engineers must be specially trained to use ammonia but it is very unlikely that ammonia will be used in either domestic or small commercial refrigeration. (It is already used in caravan refrigerators however.)

So, at the start of the 21st century, it appears we are back to using the same refrigerant gases as were being used at the start of the 20th century.

What does this mean for the consumer?

Most domestic refrigeration will use hydrocarbon refrigerants. Most commercial refrigeration manufacturers have chosen to use R134a and R404a so effectively, the choice is made for you. However, most existing systems can be converted to using hydrocarbons if this is the way the refrigeration industry goes in the future.



So, as with the CAFE standards, which sacrifice over 2,000 people a year on the altar of global warming, we will now sacrifice ourselves by placing explosive gases into our home and car air conditioners and refrigerators. Accidents and deaths, while regrettable, will be a small price to pay for Mother Gaea.

One wonders what the upper limit on human deaths is for the econazis.