Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford voted this week against the ratification of an amendment to the U-N Montreal Protocol to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons.
Referred to as the Kigali Amendment, the measure was passed Wednesday on a 69-27 vote. The amendment was to allow the U.S. to join an international agreement to phase out the hydrofluorocarbons commonly found in refrigerators and air-conditioners.
Inhofe explained his opposition saying it was an Obama-era, United Nations proposal to “further advance the climate alarmist agenda that the Biden administration has proudly made their own–this is a bad deal for America.”
He said the amendment also yields American sovereignty on environmental regulation to the U-N and will send consumer prices higher in the process.
“Not only has the Biden administration continued to push their liberal agenda on the rest of us, sending inflation rates skyrocketing, but now this amendment will make it more expensive for Oklahoma families and businesses to purchase and maintain household goods like refrigerators and air conditioners. I had to vote against ratifying it today,” said Sen. Inhofe following the vote.
Lankford opposed the amendment because it favored China in phasing out certain chemicals.
“My concern with this treaty is that it gives China an extra decade than the rest of the world to abide by the guidelines, marks it as a developing country, and sends billions of dollars to Beijing. We should not be shipping money to China. That is absurd,” said Lankford following the vote.
He said the U.S. cannot afford to put China, the worst offender of greenhouse gas emissions ahead of US manufacturing once again. The Senator said America has been voluntarily participating in reducing emissions of gasses.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called the ratification “a historic step forward to combating global warming in a huge way.”
The ratification allows the US to join the amendment along with 137 other nations that have agreed to sharply reduce the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons. The chemicals are considered potent greenhouse gases.
