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197 nations including the United States, India, and China have signed an agreement to reduce and eliminate the use of HFCs in the coming decades. The deal includes three tiers with a freeze in production and use beginning in 2019 (developed countries), 2024 (China, Brazil, and others), or 2028 (India, Pakistan, and others):
Nearly 200 nations hammered out a legally binding deal to cut back on greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners, a Rwandan minister announced to loud cheers on Saturday, in a major step against climate change.
The deal, which includes the world's two biggest economies, the United States and China, divides countries into three groups with different deadlines to reduce the use of factory-made hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases, which can be 10,000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases. [...] Under the pact, developed nations, including much of Europe and the United States, commit to reducing their use of the gases incrementally, starting with a 10 percent cut by 2019 and reaching 85 percent by 2036.
[...] The HFC talks build on the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which succeeded in phasing out the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), widely used at that time in refrigeration and aerosols. The aim was to stop the depletion of the ozone layer, which shields the planet from ultraviolet rays linked to skin cancer and other conditions.
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday October 16 2016, @12:25PM
Wouldn't sweat it. They're not talking about ripping out all the old AC units and replacing them. If they do it like they did the phasing out of R12/22, anything existing is grandfathered and the proper refrigerant is going to be produced for it for roughly its expected lifecycle and then some. They just won't produce new things that use the old refrigerant anymore and they'll require you have a license to purchase HFC-based refrigerants, like they did for CFCs and HCFCs.
Here's the part where I'm glad I already have such a license. Going 52C in the army didn't just get me out of digging quite as many fox holes, it got me a lifetime federal license to purchase any kind of refrigerant I want.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.