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Rogue EPA’s Crony Capitalism Endangering Safety

Government interventionists insist the free market, if left unchecked, endangers individuals and our planet. According to their collectivist worldview, profits trump safety — while “corporate greed” overshadows the greater good and the right of everyone to receive their “fair share.” In their zeal to right these wrongs they impose all…

Government interventionists insist the free market, if left unchecked, endangers individuals and our planet.

According to their collectivist worldview, profits trump safety — while “corporate greed” overshadows the greater good and the right of everyone to receive their “fair share.”

In their zeal to right these wrongs they impose all manner of regulations, distortions and disruptions upon the marketplace — a web of centralized planning foisted on (and funded by) citizens deemed incapable of protecting themselves from their own choices.

Of course these interventionists rarely acknowledge that their sprawling command economy — which propagates itself via a maze of tariffs, tax hikes, subsidies, low-interest loans, cleverly crafted contracts and political contributions from powerful special interests — is often far more insidious than the market it loves to loathe.

Obama nominee for administrator, Gina McCarthy, finds herself embroiled in just such a controversy over HFO-1234yf, a new “ozone friendly” automotive refrigerant developed jointly by Honeywell and DuPont.

Fire Hazard

Obama EPA nominee Gina McCarthy
Obama EPA nominee Gina McCarthy

In February 2011, McCarthy’s Air and Radiation office at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved HFO-1234yf for use in American cars.

It also offers incentives to automakers using the product — such as General Motors, which currently uses HFO-1234yf in its Cadillac XTS vehicles (and European Chevy Malibus) and plans to feature it fleetwide over the next five years.

In Europe, HFO-1234yf is the only product meeting new European Union “greenhouse gas” guidelines — meaning it could be standard in more than 14 million vehicles a year beginning in 2017 (which would be worth an estimated $1 billion annually to Honeywell).

“This new chemical helps fight climate change and ozone depletion,” McCarthy said of HFO-1234yf in 2011 while serving as administrator of the EPA’s Air and Radiation office. “It is homegrown innovative solutions like this that save lives and strengthen our economy.”

Is any of that true, though? Last August at Mercedes-Benz’ test track in Sindelfingen, Germany, engineers simulated a crash in which the refrigerant was sprayed onto the car’s hot engine.

The result? The substance burst into flames as soon as it made contact.

Not only that, as it burned it emitted hydrogen fluoride, “a chemical far more deadly to humans than hydrogen cyanide, emitted in such amounts that it turned the windshield white as it began to eat into the glass.”

“We were frozen in shock, I am not going to deny it,” one of the engineers said afterward. “We needed a day to comprehend what we had just seen.”

These results — repeated in twenty out of twenty tests — prompted Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz’ parent) to ban HFO-1234yf in its vehicles and issue a recall of cars in which the refrigerant had already been installed.

While acknowledging the “mildly flammable” nature of its product, Honeywell has accused Daimler of rigging tests to save money — as if adding an estimated $75 to a line of vehicles ranging in price from $35,350 to $206,000 would prompt widespread sticker shock.

Daimler isn’t alone in its concerns. Earlier this month Volkswagen — the world’s third-largest automaker — announced it was passing on the controversial refrigerant as well.

Even if HFO-1234yf were not a “killer coolant,” its environmental friendliness remains up for debate. When vented into the air the substance degrades to trifluoroacetic acid, a plant-killing compound that has “no known degradation mechanism in water.”

Obama’s Friend

In an experiment for Germany’s Auto Bild magazine, 10 grams of this compound were exposed to a pig’s head. “Within a half hour its skin had turned grey and its eyes had become dull and milky,” the researchers found.

Aside from safety and environmental issues, the EPA’s claim that HFO-1234yf will “strengthen our economy” is also bogus. The opposite is actually true, as the compound will be produced almost exclusively in China due to its dominance in mining fluorspar — one of its essential raw materials. This is why last October, DuPont announced it had “established supply of the refrigerant from China and Japan.”

Meanwhile workers at American plants producing R-134a — the current industry standard refrigerant — face an uncertain future given that these facilities cannot be retrofitted to manufacture the new coolant.

Barack Obama and Honeywell CEO David Cote.
Barack Obama and Honeywell CEO David Cote.

In light of all these issues why would the EPA approve and incentivize the use of such a deadly and environmentally hazardous chemical?

It is no secret that President Obama enjoys an especially close relationship with Honeywell CEO Dave E. Cote. Mr. Cote not only supported Mr. Obama’s 2009 “stimulus,” he also introduced Mr. Obama at a White House briefing promoting the plan.

“We need to get this thing done,” Mr. Cote said in introducing Mr. Obama. “As for Honeywell, you can count on us and all of our employees to be there to help support this.”

According to OpenSecrets.org, Honeywell lobbied Congress on the issue of hydrofluorocarbons from 2009-2011 — right up until the EPA’s approval of HFO-1234yf. While it’s not clear what they were pushing for, a ban on these substances would have dramatically increased demand for the new refrigerant.

Whether this is a case of crony capitalism or the “green agenda” run amok remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Gina McCarthy approved the promotion of a dangerous product that threatens American lives and jobs.

That’s the real danger here — not global warming or a “killer coolant,” but a rogue agency and the woman who would lead it, who are willing to sacrifice consumer safety on the altar of radical ideology.

Bill Wilson is president of Americans for Limited Government. Follow him on Twitter at @BillWilsonALG. This column – reprinted with permission – originally appeared in Investor’s Business Daily.

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20 comments

MyDaddyIsRich April 12, 2013 at 8:57 am

Thank God the fossil fuel industry is so righteous!

Reply
MyDaddyIsRich April 12, 2013 at 8:57 am

Thank God the fossil fuel industry is so righteous!

Reply
Darth April 12, 2013 at 9:18 am

“hydrogen flouride” AKA hydroflouric acid… nasty stuff, eats glass you know.

Reply
Darth April 12, 2013 at 9:18 am

“hydrogen flouride” AKA hydroflouric acid… nasty stuff, eats glass you know.

Reply
Smirks April 12, 2013 at 9:20 am

Government interventionists insist the free market, if left unchecked, endangers individuals and our planet.

Exxon Valdez, BP’s Deepwater Horizon, Shell’s wandering oil rig, Exxon’s spill in Mayflower… Clean air regulations, OSHA, preventing companies from dumping or burning toxic materials into our water and air…

Let’s consider Deepwater Horizon. How long did the boycotts last, and how widespread were they? How hard did BP fight paying for damages to various people and businesses? How ineffective was their cleanup effort? How hard did they try to pretend that it’s all gone away, despite the vast number of people who are still finding pollution today because of it?

No, you’re right. The free market would never endanger the environment and/or human health. If only government didn’t interfere! Gawd!

The EPA is suffering pretty heavily right now from a bad episode of not doing its job. Doing a piss poor job and being corrupt might be pretty bad, but a complete absence of such an agency is even worse. If all the EPA is doing is giving incentives to use the product, who cares? Let the industry reject it for the stated reasons, and if the EPA wants to force it, it’ll go to court and will likely be cut down.

Bill Wilson should go to China, where the government doesn’t give two shits about the environment, even though the people themselves do as they breathe in toxic smog and can’t swim in their poisoned rivers. Wow, look at how the “free market” works! Companies are given free reign over whether or not they want to pollute and the people can choose to not work there or buy stuff from them or get service from them if they want! It’s not like Olympians from countries with interfering government agencies had to train outside of Beijing just to adjust to the smog and not be overpowered by it, right? Yeah, fuck the EPA!

And when all their toxic cheap-ass shit gets shipped over to America and is sold in Walmart across the country, people turn their noses up at it because they don’t want to be exposed to all manners of toxic chemicals, shoddy and unsafe construction, and generally crappy goods, right? Right? …Right?

It absolutely astonishes me that people believe this kind of shit. Companies like Monsanto buy their way out of being punished by government for a reason, because being able to get away with virtually anything kicks ass (if you’re a shareholder). Meat processing companies love having people arrested for filming cruel treatment of animals so they don’t have to give a fuck and save a few bucks, and they like not having so many USDA inspectors around (or being allowed to self-“regulate”) so they get away with more shit. Remember the video I posted about glued together chunks of crappy meat to be sold as “premium cuts?” That’s what the free market is capable of when it is unrestrained.

The free market isn’t evil, it is indifferent, and those who are blind to its indifference to extremely negative shit for society are fools.

Reply
LD April 12, 2013 at 4:07 pm

Can anyone explain why the GOP is concerned about leaving the next generation with massive debt, when they would leave them with a toxic environment and uneducated?

Reply
lowcorider April 15, 2013 at 9:49 pm

Smirks I gladly issue you a variance on the 4 sentence rule. Good job.

Reply
empiresentry1 February 9, 2014 at 12:44 pm

While you are looking at the flashy shiny object, those of us that are EPA and the Coast guard oil and water responders were sidelined for 6 months by order of DC and Obama. NOT until the oil hit land and the states began billing EPA Hqtrs for cleanup, did O step up and order the response. SIX MONTHS we waited. SIX MONTHS the disaster became what it was when only a drop of oil in water is grounds for our response. Thank you O.
Now, more oil is released than was before all the rigs were shut down. Hurrah!! But we shut the rigs down. Ooops, better open that one out there back up, quietly says EPA. Our Taiwanese friend will make sure the natural excape of hydrocarbons will be stopped.

While you eagerly look the other way and chase the flavor fad du jour, the EPA has been politicized for cronies. There is no science, only pay offs. Anyone one of us that stands up is silenced. Our research is modified, altered or buried.

Some of us spent 40 yrs and our entire careers taking mercury and lead out of the environment,…all shot in one day “because its the right thing and feels good”.
And here, now, you have HFO staring at you in the face and you blame who? The corporations? LOLOL

Reply
Smirks April 12, 2013 at 9:20 am

Government interventionists insist the free market, if left unchecked, endangers individuals and our planet.

Exxon Valdez, BP’s Deepwater Horizon, Shell’s wandering oil rig, Exxon’s spill in Mayflower… Clean air regulations, OSHA, preventing companies from dumping or burning toxic materials into our water and air…

Let’s consider Deepwater Horizon. How long did the boycotts last, and how widespread were they? How hard did BP fight paying for damages to various people and businesses? How ineffective was their cleanup effort? How hard did they try to pretend that it’s all gone away, despite the vast number of people who are still finding pollution today because of it?

No, you’re right. The free market would never endanger the environment and/or human health. If only government didn’t interfere! Gawd!

The EPA is suffering pretty heavily right now from a bad episode of not doing its job. Doing a piss poor job and being corrupt might be pretty bad, but a complete absence of such an agency is even worse. If all the EPA is doing is giving incentives to use the product, who cares? Let the industry reject it for the stated reasons, and if the EPA wants to force it, it’ll go to court and will likely be cut down.

Bill Wilson should go to China, where the government doesn’t give two shits about the environment, even though the people themselves do as they breathe in toxic smog and can’t swim in their poisoned rivers. Wow, look at how the “free market” works! Companies are given free reign over whether or not they want to pollute and the people can choose to not work there or buy stuff from them or get service from them if they want! It’s not like Olympians from countries with interfering government agencies had to train outside of Beijing just to adjust to the smog and not be overpowered by it, right? Yeah, fuck the EPA!

And when all their toxic cheap-ass shit gets shipped over to America and is sold in Walmart across the country, people turn their noses up at it because they don’t want to be exposed to all manners of toxic chemicals, shoddy and unsafe construction, and generally crappy goods, right? Right? …Right?

It absolutely astonishes me that people believe this kind of shit. Companies like Monsanto buy their way out of being punished by government for a reason, because being able to get away with virtually anything kicks ass (if you’re a shareholder). Meat processing companies love having people arrested for filming cruel treatment of animals so they don’t have to give a fuck and save a few bucks, and they like not having so many USDA inspectors around (or being allowed to self-“regulate”) so they get away with more shit. Remember the video I posted about glued together chunks of crappy meat to be sold as “premium cuts?” That’s what the free market is capable of when it is unrestrained.

The free market isn’t evil, it is indifferent, and those who are blind to its indifference to extremely negative shit for society are fools.

Reply
LD April 12, 2013 at 4:07 pm

Can anyone explain why the GOP is concerned about leaving the next generation with massive debt, when they would leave them with a toxic environment and uneducated?

Reply
Lowcorider April 15, 2013 at 9:49 pm

Smirks I gladly issue you a variance on the 4 sentence rule. Good job.

Reply
lawzoo April 12, 2013 at 3:46 pm

“Within a half hour its skin had turned grey and its eyes had become dull and milky,”

Sounds exactly like Mark “Don’t Cry for Me Appalachian Trail” Sanfraud

Reply
lawzoo April 12, 2013 at 3:46 pm

“Within a half hour its skin had turned grey and its eyes had become dull and milky,”

Sounds exactly like Mark “Don’t Cry for Me Appalachian Trail” Sanfraud

Reply
Elites Protecting Assholes April 12, 2013 at 5:49 pm

Man, you cats see what a filthy mess our country was in 1970? Looks like we’ll need a redo if shit like this keeps up.

Reply
Elites Protecting Assholes April 12, 2013 at 5:49 pm

Man, you cats see what a filthy mess our country was in 1970? Looks like we’ll need a redo if shit like this keeps up.

Reply
Soft Sigh from Hell April 13, 2013 at 4:48 pm

Ammonia and sulfur dioxide also work fine as refrigerants, as does butane or ethane I believe. Common sense about safety removed these from consideration for use in occupied vehicles and (nonindustrial) buildings long ago.

If this new stuff gets approved for most cars, how long will it be before it is forced on (into) our home refrigerators and window air conditioners (it might be OK for the outside ones).

Reply
Soft Sigh from Hell April 13, 2013 at 4:48 pm

Ammonia and sulfur dioxide also work fine as refrigerants, as does butane or ethane I believe. Common sense about safety removed these from consideration for use in occupied vehicles and (nonindustrial) buildings long ago.

If this new stuff gets approved for most cars, how long will it be before it is forced on (into) our home refrigerators and window air conditioners (it might be OK for the outside ones).

Reply
lowcorider April 15, 2013 at 10:00 pm

Hey Bill can you name the other flammable liquid used in automobiles? That’s right. Gasoline. Autos are propelled by using a flammable liquid known as gasoline. About a hundred times more than the required volume of freon. So Bill this is why we thinking people ask you to put out that fucking cigarette before you fuel up. Wouldn’t want you to burn your ass to a frazzle before the lung cancer kills your ass.

Reply
Lowcorider April 15, 2013 at 10:00 pm

Hey Bill can you name the other flammable liquid used in automobiles? That’s right. Gasoline. Autos are propelled by using a flammable liquid known as gasoline. About a hundred times more than the required volume of freon. So Bill this is why we thinking people ask you to put out that fucking cigarette before you fuel up. Wouldn’t want you to burn your ass to a frazzle before the lung cancer kills your ass.

Reply
Tesla_X September 16, 2014 at 9:53 am

So, the next time you have a car crash, thanks to the epa, you can now more easily burn, then be poisoned?

The substance burst into flames as soon as it made contact.

Not only that, as it burned it emitted hydrogen fluoride, “a chemical far more deadly to humans than hydrogen cyanide.

Nope…nothing to see here.

Reply

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