Biden’s Power-Mad EPA Boasts of Its First “Climate Change Arrest” – Watts Up With That?

From Legal Insurrection

The Californian was busted for smuggling air-conditioning gases into a hot-weather state.

Posted by Leslie Eastman 

The Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report this week about the prosecution of a California man for “smuggling greenhouse gases” across the border from Mexico and selling them online.

The agency posted that it was its first “climate change arrest.”

Michael Hart, 58, was arrested in March and pleaded guilty in September to charges related to transporting refrigerants into the US to peddle on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and other online vendors between June and December 2022.

Biden’s EPA touted the crackdown on Hart, the first-ever person charged for climate change-related bootlegging of refrigerants — namely, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCs) — without the agency’s approval, in its report.

When charging the San Diego resident earlier this year, US Attorney Tara McGrath vowed “it will not be the last” case of its kind.

“We are using every means possible to protect our planet from the harm caused by toxic pollutants, including bringing criminal charges,” the prosecutor from the Southern District of California said.

As a reminder: Hydrochlorfluorocarbons are important for refrigeration and air conditioning systems. They were initially produced to replace the “ozone-depleting” chlorofluorocarbons.

The compounds have been added to the long-list of evil “greenhouse gases” as part of the pseudoscience climate cultists follow.

As already mentioned, HCFC is an abbreviation of hydrochlorofluorocarbon. These gases are composed of chlorine, carbon, fluorine and hydrogen. They are a type of gas that can be categorised as a transitional gas, as they are being used to replace CFCs as part of the plan to reduce the emission of ozone-depleting gases. HCFCs are gases used in the manufacture of other chemicals.

Despite their lower ozone-depleting potential than CFCs, they have a high global warming potential. These are gases therefore that are to be gradually phased out. Their use is decreasing in developed countries, in particular, in line with the Montreal Protocol. This protocol aims to reduce the baseline to 90%.

The report also highlighted a long list of penalties and fines it lavished on Americans and their business enterprises.

Additionally, the EPA reported issuing $1.7 billion in administrative and judicial penalties, the highest level since 2017.

The agency’s environmental enforcement efforts also saw 1,851 civil cases concluded, 121 criminal defendants charged, and it issued more than 225 million pounds of “pollution reductions” in “overburdened communities,” according to the report. As of the end of 2024, there are about 480 open criminal investigations on environmental programs.

The results reflect a 3.4% increase in civil cases and a 17.6% increase in criminal charges compared to 2023, The Associated Press reported.

In the FY 2024 report, the EPA also noted that collaborative efforts on the “implementation of EPA’s national priorities” led to a “12% increase in criminal leads opened because of referrals from EPA Headquarters and regional offices.”

If any member of the Biden administration could read the mood of Americans correctly, this entire report would have been buried during the Christmas news snooze.

But, then again, it appears nobody in that administration understands the citizens of the nation. Hence, we will be enjoying a second scoop of President Donald Trump.

It appears that what the Biden EPA most wants to produce is the political environment. According to David Strom of Hot Air, Biden is going to divert more monies to climate cultists on his way out the door.

Biden says we should expect more climate funding from him before he leaves office. I guess there are more beds to be feathered and too little time to do it all, so he has to rush.

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