I am one of those people who believe that climate change in the
form of global warming is real. I’m not a climate scientist, but
I am willing to defer to 97% of the world’s climate scientists
who believe that climate change is real. Reading about the
latest freak tornado doesn’t tend to change my mind. Of course,
the U.S. government, with some exceptions, is limited now in
what it can do to stem the stream of fossil-fuel-generated
carbon emissions that are the primary source of climate change.
Oddly enough, though, food retailers are in a position to do
something about climate change — not just the part caused by
fossil fuels, but the part caused by refrigerants. The synthetic
refrigerants retailers have been using to chill and freeze food
have a long history of being bad for the environment, notably
R-22, an HCFC gas that depletes the ozone layer. That
refrigerant is being phased out, per the Environmental
Protection Agency. Unfortunately, in its place, retailers have
turned to HFC gases that, while harmless