"The legislation calls for cutting the use of powerful planet-warming chemicals common in air-conditioners and refrigerators."

"WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators inserted a bipartisan measure to curtail planet-warming chemicals used in air-conditioners and refrigerators in the huge government spending and coronavirus relief package that is expected to head to President Trump’s desk on Monday.

The legislation would be the first significant climate change law to pass Congress since at least 2009.

Also riding on the larger package is a separate bill to promote renewable energy by directing about $35 billion in existing government spending toward the development of wind, solar and other clean energy sources over the next five years.

Both bills are backed by some of the Senate’s most powerful Republicans, creating a rare party rebuke to President Trump on the issue of global warming, after he has spent the past four years mocking and systematically rolling back every major climate change rule."

Coral Davenport reports for the New York Times December 21, 2020. [2]