Tough new international rules governing emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) could be on the cards after officials this week signalled that the Obama administration is determined to clamp down on the potent greenhouse gas, which is found widely in refrigerators and air conditioning systems.

In an open letter to the United Nations Environment Programme released yesterday, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Reifsnyder said that the US was committed to reducing emissions of HFC's, which are expected to "increase dramatically" as manufacturers deploy the gas as an alternative to hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) that are blamed for damaging the ozone layer.

The letter warns that UN attempts to phase out the use of HCFC's through the Montreal Protocol risks "solving one global environmental problem while possibly exacerbating another unless other alternatives can be found".

Reifsnyder said that the US remained undecided on whether the Montreal Protocol should be extended to call for the phasing out of HFCs as well as HCFCs, or whether HFCs should be included in the climate change agreement that is expected to be reached at the UN conference in Copenhagen later this year.

But he insisted that the US was now "extremely interested in how best to address the projected future growth of HFCs and how to promote the development of technically and economically feasible alternatives".

The move further reinforces recent promises from President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that after years of obstruction from the Bush administration the US now intends to take a proactive role in international climate change negotiations.

An unnamed senior administration official confirmed to news agency Reuters that the main goal of the letter was to "to signal that we're really serious about reducing HFCs".

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