--- title: Donald Trump Unsure About Climate Deal Industry Supports description: The Trump White House has hesitated to throw out one key climate agreement: a 2016 deal to phase out a pollutant found in air conditioners canonical: https://time.com/5134208/kigali-amendment-donald-trump-climate-change/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-06T19:02:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:56:48.873Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's the One Climate Change Deal the Trump Administration Might Back og:description: U.S. manufacturers think it could be a business opportunity og:url: https://time.com/5134208/kigali-amendment-donald-trump-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0700392ecfaffa92/6988fac1096a94725b6a15fb/air-conditioner-kigali-amendment1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: air conditioners kigali amendment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the One Climate Change Deal the Trump Administration Might Back twitter:description: U.S. manufacturers think it could be a business opportunity twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0700392ecfaffa92/6988fac1096a94725b6a15fb/air-conditioner-kigali-amendment1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the One Climate Change Deal the Trump Administration Might Back > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=18d53709-35b0-4412-8485-8552e16a6c40&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mia6Tcb8.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-26. The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 6, 2018 7:02 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 6, 2018 7:02 PM UTC From dropping out of the [Paris climate deal](http://time.com/4801134/paris-agreement-withdrawal-donald-trump-rose-garden/) to overturning environmental [regulations](http://time.com/3981535/white-house-clean-power-plan/), President Donald Trump has targeted a number of Obama-era policies on climate change in his first year — with one notable exception. The Trump Administration has hesitated to throw out a key [deal](http://time.com/4532377/climate-change-kigali-agreement-air-conditioners/) reached in 2016 to phase out a pollutant found in air conditioners that is a factor in climate change, in part because American companies think it could be a huge business opportunity for them. An Administration official declined to say Monday whether Trump would send the Kigali amendment to the Senate for ratification. “The president wants to make sure that any international environment agreement does not harm U.S. workers,” said George David Banks, White House international energy and environment advisor, at an event at the Hudson Institute on Monday. “If the president does decide to support Kigali … it will largely be because he wants to create U.S. jobs.” Formally known as Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the deal enjoys support from an unusual alliance of manufacturers, conservative groups and environmentalists who argue that the deal supports U.S. jobs while also helping address climate change. More than 170 countries agreed to the Kigali amendment in October 2016 following years of discussion about how refrigerants known as HFCs, short for hydrofluorocarbons, contribute to climate change. In a twist, HFCs came into widespread use after the 1980 Montreal Protocol required countries to stop using chlorofluorocarbons — or CFCs — because they depleted the ozone layer. Scientists now say adopting the Kigali amendment could prevent 0.9° Fahrenheit rise in temperature by 2100\. That would mark a significant step toward meeting the Paris agreement’s goal of keeping temperatures from rising more than 3.6° Fahrenheit by 2100\. Total global HFC emissions contribute less to climate change than emissions from other greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide and methane. But HFCs trap more heat on a pound per pound basis, meaning that switching to other refrigerants can make a significant dent in addressing climate change without the challenges of restructuring how Americans drive their cars or where they get their electricity. “Adopting an ambitious amendment to phase down the use and production of hydrofluorocarbons — or HFCs — is likely the single most important step that we could take at this moment to limit the warming of our planet,” then Secretary of State John Kerry said in Kigali before the passage of the deal. Beyond the climate change, manufacturers and business groups have argued that the deal will help the U.S. compete on the global market. If the U.S. remains out of the agreement, that could lead to a variety of different standards being used domestically and around the world, complicating things for American manufacturers. Perhaps more importantly, the U.S. could lose business to companies located in countries that have ratified the deal. American companies have invested in developing new products that can replaces HFCs, and the Kigali Amendment helps create a market for that technology. But U.S. manufacturers face stiff and growing competition from China and other places that see an opening as the U.S. steps back from the international stage. “We want to be the global leaders like we alway have been in this industry,” says Stephen Yurek, CEO of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute. “Will they pick our products and technology or will they pick those developed by the other countries that have ratified the amendment?” Banks says the Trump Administration still has questions. “We understand that there is broad industry support,” said Banks. “But first we need to know the economic impact.” ## Transcript As a candidate Donald Trump had no problem giving his opinion about climate change. So Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming, and a lot of it's a hoax, it's a hoax, I mean it's a money making industry okay . >> But as president he won't say what he things and neither will his administration. The president himself during the campaign called climate change a hoax. Have you had that conversation with him? I have not had that conversation with him. He no longer believes what he tweeted during the course of the campaign in years earlier, that it's a hoax? Look, you're gonna have to ask him. I'll ask it one more time. Does he believe global warming's a hoax? Does he believe- You should ask him that. When asked their own opinions, other members of the Trump administration generally agree the climate is changing and humans may play a role. Climate is changing, it always has. Man at this particular point in time is having an effect on it, how much effect is what's at debate here. So why is Trump himself so cagey? Part of it is political, polls show the majority of Americans believe global warming is real and is caused by human activities. Part of it personal, Trump does not like to admit he was wrong about an issue in the past As can be seen from his brief and begrudging admission this his crusade over President Obama's birth certificate was mistaken. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. But there's a legal reason too. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that the greenhouse gases, which cause climate change Are a form of pollution that endanger human health and wellbeing. And thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, that means the EPA must act on those findings. If the Trump Administration were to say climate change isn't real it would be open to lawsuits from environmentalists for not acting on its own EPA findings. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is careful to say that it's real in some form. I indicated That in fact global warming is occurring. That human activity contributes to it in some manner. That doesn't mean the EPA has to keep the Obama administration's plans in place. In fact members of the Trump adminstration have been steadily rolling back regulations designed to fight climate change. They just can't say they're doing that. Because climate change isn't real. 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