Center for Innovative Diplomacy Archive

Environmentalists and governments everywhere agree that something must be done to halt the widespread use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCS) and othersubstances that are destroying the earth's protective ozone layer-and just about everybody agrees that nobody is doingenough. Last week the Southern California city of Irvine (pop. 110,000) did more than most.

Bravo to Irvine, Calif. for acting on the environment where national governments have been loathe to tread. 

Irvine is frustrated by the plodding pace of national measures to phase out use of chemicals that deplete the earth's ozone layer. So this small city is adopting what may be the world's toughest measures against the use of such chemicals. It is showing precisely the sort of resolve this newspaper has repeatedly called on Montreal city hall and the Quebec government to demonstrate. 

Irvine is, for example, requiring repair shops and garages to capture and recycle chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigerators and in the air conditioners commonly used in automobiles, homes and businesses.  It is banning halons, the most damaging to the ozone layer of all chemicals, in fire extinguishers. And it is phasing out the use of CFCs In such Industrial processes as cleaning computer circuitry.

A two-day conference in Irvine exploringdepletion of the Earth's ozone layerended Saturday with establishment of thefirst nationwide group of elected officialsaimed at eliminating substances harmful tothe atmosphere.

Representatives of two dozen U.S. andCanadian cities said creation of the NorthAmerican Congress of Local Governmentsfor a Stratospheric Protection Accord represents a new and potentially sweepingmovement in the campaign to stop depletion of the ozone layer.

In the chocking heat of a Washington summer, the U.S. Congress is going to battle over President George Bush’s clean-air proposals to cut toxic pollutants that cause smog and acid rain. 

But meanwhile, city officials from Canada and the U.S. – weary of lengthy national and international debates over urgent pollution issues – held their own conference this weekend to save the environment.

Irked by stumbling internationalefforts to stem a growing atmosphericcrisis, leaders from two dozen U.S. cities launched a grassroots campaign Friday in Irvine to restrict compounds that destroythe Earth's protective ozone layer.

Officials from · cities across the nation expressed hope that they can work on the municipal level to vanquish a foe that has so far confounded nations.

The assorted city council members and civic administrators are expected today to adopt a two-page "Stratospheric Protection Accord" calling on local governmentsthroughout the United States, Canadaand other foreign countries to approve policies banning ozonedepleting compounds.

Ozone Depletion; the Greenhouse Effect.

How they're caused.

What they mean for your city.

What your city can do.

The North American Conference for a Stratospheric Protection Accord

July 21 -22, 1989The National Academies of Sciences and Engineering

University of California Irvine

City officials have approved a ban next year on plastic food containers, coolants, solvents, and other products containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that deplete theEarth's ozone layer.

According to a city ordinance adopted Tuesday, local businesses will not be allowed to buy, sell, or use products containing CFCs, as of July l , 1990.Scientists say CFCs are destroying the Earth's ozone layer, which screens the sun's ultraviolet rays. Researchers say exposureto large doses of ultraviolet rays is harmful to humans, as well as a variety of plants and animals.

The measure, approved by a 4-to-l vote, is believed to be one of the most comprehensive ever adopted, city officials say.

IRVINE, Calif.-This southern California suburb on Tuesday became the first city in the country to approve a sweeping ordinance aimed at sharply reducing the release of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting compounds into the atmosphere. 

The measure, stoutly opposed by a number of the city's high-technology and aerospace-related firms, on businesses to meet a series of stringent environmental requirements by next July 1 or face misdemeanor charges.

IRVINE, Calif., July 18 -The ranks of American states, counties and cities impatient with the pace of international efforts to protect the earth's ozone layer are swelling.  The latest action comes from conservative Orange County, where the City Council of Irvine voted 4 to 1 tonight to approve what Is believed to be the most far-reaching measure yet to control ozone-depleting chemicals. 

The Irvine ordinance will prohibit the use of nearly will chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC's, and related compounds In any industrial process, except in the manufacture of drugs and medical devices and when military specifications call for them. It will ban the sale and use of styrofoam food packaging, ifthe chemical compounds were used in their manufacture, and it will prohibit the use of building insulation containing the compounds.

In a move hailed by environmentalists and decried by many high-tech manufacturers, the Irvine City Council voted 4-1 last night to severely restrict the use of ozone-depleting chemicals within the city's limits. 

The measure, which will affect everything from the way air conditioners are serviced to how computers are manufactured, is one of the nation's toughest. 

"This ordinance is a landmark," said Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, who first proposed theordinance last May. "It's the most far-reaching of its kind in the country."