If you're in the market looking for an air-conditioner, you should know that there are some changes around the horizon that impact what you should buy.

Specifically, the old refrigerant called R 22 is going to be phased out. After 2010, manufacturers will be able to produce R 22 only for servicing existing equipment, but not new equipment. By 2020, that phase out becomes even more complete.

Experts suggest that there will be enough R 22 around for existing equipment for quite some time. The reason for that is because R 22 has to be recaptured, it cannot be vented into the atmosphere. It is believed that there will be a sufficient supply of recaptured R 22 to keep everybody nice and cold for some time.

R 22 is being phased out because it depletes the ozone layer and it encourages global warming. Therefore, if you're going to buy a new central air conditioner, it probably makes sense to find something that doesn't rely on R 22. Even though R 22 will be available for some time, why use something that is bad for the environment?

My concern is that there don't seem to be too many really good alternatives. In particular, the alternative that people have been talking about for some time is called R410A. This is manufactured by a variety of companies and is becoming increasingly available.

I remember when this product was first introduced around five years ago. There was a lot of fanfare, and people indicated that this would have little environmental impact.

My problem is that I just reviewed an EPA fact sheet, which indicates that while R410A does not deplete the ozone layer, it adds to global warming, just as does R 22. Which is the stuff they are eliminating .

The EPA is famous for substituting bad things for other bad things.

MTBE is one of my favorite examples. That was the gasoline additive that was supposed to address air pollution. But in fact, turned out to create groundwater pollution, affecting a lot of drinking water all over the country.

Now, many states have made MTBE illegal.

I am wondering whether R410A is going to have the same fate. It seems to me that it doesn't make a lot of sense to phase out R22 in favor of a chemical that alo hurts the atmosphere.

Am I missing something here? Aren't we setting ourselves up for another big problem?

We can do better, and we will do better if we pressure our regulators and corporate America to do a better job. This looks like this was a quick fix that possibly didn't fix much at all.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.