U.S. May Hasten Chemical Ban to Help Ozone

Concerned over new indications that a hole is developing in the ozone layer over the Arctic, the Bush Administration may accelerate its schedule for banning chemicals that damage the protective layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Under consideration, Administration sources said Thursday, is a proposal to advance from the year 2000 to 1995 an international deadline to phase out chlorofluorocarbons, a family of chlorine-based refrigerants and solvents.

New concern over CFC damage to the atmosphere arose earlier this week after a report from government scientists that conditions are ripe for development of an Arctic ozone hole comparable to one that has seen an ozone reduction of more than 50% in the Antarctic.

If a huge vortex of Arctic air leads to development of an ozone hole in the coming weeks, as scientists fear, some estimates are that ozone reductions of as much as 40% could occur over densely inhabited areas of the Northern Hemisphere.

Researchers discovered last year that a thinning of the ozone layer had already spread over much of the planet, increasing the danger of skin cancer and having other health effects.

The so-called Montreal protocol committing industrial nations of the world to a CFC phaseout is scheduled to be updated next November. But the Administration may indicate its willingness to advance the schedule when signatories meet in April in Nairobi, Kenya, to prepare for the November session.

Thursday, during debate on the omnibus energy bill, the Senate adopted on a 96-0 vote an amendment by Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.) calling for a speedup of the CFC ban. A similar measure by the senator was adopted by the Foreign Relations Committee last year, but Administration opposition prevented it from being considered on the floor.

A pollutant in urban smog, ozone in the stratosphere serves to block much of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere lead to the production of chlorine monoxide, which, in turn, causes the breakup of ozone molecules.