By Joe Parmigiani, Alliance Intern from Dartmouth College ‘28
Major grocery chains are major contributors to the climate crisis. The use of hydrofluorocarbons in refrigerators wreaks serious environmental havoc. A recent EPA investigation found half the stores it visited had leaks of these gases, rapidly entering our atmosphere and accelerating the climate crisis.
Ceasing the use of these gases and switching to climate-friendly refrigerants can prevent nearly half a degree Celsius of global warming — a crucial number in the 1.5 degree threshold from the Paris Agreement.
Better refrigerants could prevent 460 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years, equivalent to 97 billion gas passenger vehicles driven for one year, or equal to the power produced by 124 million wind turbines.
Take action now and join the Alliance in signing this GreenAmerica petition to demand that major grocery stores set a zero-tolerance policy for leaks and switch to climate-friendly refrigerants.