LIBERTY: DuPont supporting the CFC ban explained

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/blackstock5.html

Dirty Deeds Are No Longer Dirt Cheap
by Rob Blackstock

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According to Eric Peters (1996. “Who’s Behind the Freon Ban?” The Free Market 14, December: 6–7), DuPont changed their stance due to the fact that the company’s patent on Freon terminated in 1992. This opened the door to not only domestic competition, but cheaper Freon from South American producers. Seeing that Freon was, “the only refrigerant used by the auto industry since the first AC [Air Conditioning] systems were installed in the 1950s” (ibid., p 6), DuPont stood to lose millions. However, by encouraging regulators to make Freon illegal, DuPont closed the door to competition. Simultaneously, DuPont introduced a patented substitute (HFC-134a). DuPont “owns exclusive rights to HFC-134a – the only refrigerant authorized for use in new car air-conditioning systems” (ibid., p 7).

On April 27, 1992, DuPont placed a full page add in the New York Times (p. A7) which stated, “In the US alone, more than $135 billion worth of equipment – used in about 3,500 different applications – depend on CFCs…. All of this equipment must use recycled refrigerants, or be retrofitted or replaced before it can use any of the substitutes for CFCs.” DuPont’s Freon Division Director, Joseph Glass summed it up nicely; “When you have $3 billion of CFCs sold worldwide and 70 percent of that is about to be regulated out of existence, there is a tremendous market potential.”

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Well that explains why we got taken to the woodshed on that one. Facism! Where the gooferment and bigbiz get into bed with each other. Except the people get screwed!

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