Trump Administration Says Repeal of Obama Emissions Policy Will Cut Vehicle Prices by $2,400
The Trump administration announced Thursday that rolling back the Obama-era “endangerment finding” will reduce the average cost of a new vehicle by roughly $2,400, a move the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency say will ease financial pressure on both automakers and consumers.
President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin revealed that the administration is rescinding the 2009 policy first implemented under President Barack Obama. That rule enabled the EPA to regulate and limit emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases from vehicles and engines beginning with the 2012 model year.
Supporters of the repeal argue that the prior regulations imposed enormous expenses on manufacturers and buyers alike. One policy expert suggested that the economic impact of removing the rule could exceed the administration’s current projections.
“The EPA has estimated benefits to the economy from rescinding the endangerment finding for vehicles to be as much as $4.7 trillion for the period 2027-2055. This is a gross underestimate,” Steve Milloy, a former Trump EPA transition adviser and senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, told The Post.
“Because of this move, gas prices will remain low and car prices will decline,” the biostatistician and environmental lawyer added. “Lower gas prices and lower vehicle prices will ripple through the economy for decades to come.”
Milloy also emphasized that lifting emissions requirements could allow individuals and businesses to use money once spent on compliance and higher vehicle costs for other purposes.
“All these benefits are impossible to calculate. But there’s one thing for sure: The costs of regulating greenhouse gas emissions is incalculably large while providing absolutely no environmental benefit,” he said.
According to the EPA, eliminating the policy will also reduce “regulatory compliance costs” and avoid expenses tied to “purchasing equipment related to [electric vehicles],” which automakers ramped up production of following the 2009 rule.
Speaking at the White House, Zeldin declared that “manufacturers will no longer be burdened by measuring, compiling or reporting greenhouse gas emissions for vehicles and engines.”
Ford Motor Company, one of Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers, expressed support for the administration’s decision to withdraw the Obama standards.
“We appreciate the work of President Trump and Administrator Zeldin to address the imbalance between current emissions standards and customer choice,” a spokesperson told The Post.
“Ford has consistently advocated for a single, stable national standard that aligns with customer choice, the market, societal benefit, and American job growth.”
Tim Pohanka, vice president and executive manager of Virginia’s Pohanka Automotive Group, said consumers could see savings but warned that price reductions may not be immediate or as steep as projected.
“Is there a potential opportunity for people to save? Yeah, there is. But it can’t be coupled with having to pay more at the gas pump, so it’s all relative,” Pohanka said.
“Would we see a price reduction of $2,400 right away on a car? Probably not,” he added. “I would have a hard time really saying exactly how that number would break out.”
Pohanka noted that car buyers are already grappling with rising costs and hopes the regulatory rollback will help reverse that trend.
“The cost of a car has outpaced inflation dramatically,” he pointed out.
Trump and Zeldin further announced that the automatic start-stop feature introduced under the endangerment finding will no longer be required in new vehicles. The system, designed to shut off engines when cars are idle, has been a point of frustration for some drivers.
Pohanka said removing such features could help reduce manufacturing expenses.
“Every time they put new components in the car, it adds cost,” he said. “When you start to look at auto-start, auto-stop buttons, it plays an impact on the car.
“Removing the complexity from that hardware will make a difference.”
He also remarked that the start-stop mechanism can cause “harm to the engine and battery components,” potentially increasing repair bills for owners.
Lauren Fix, an automotive analyst at The Car Coach, agreed that the policy change could lead to lower vehicle prices, though she questioned the exact savings figure cited by the administration.
“On every car brand, it’s going to be slightly different,” she explained.
Still, she maintained that “this is a win, making cars more affordable,” Fix continued.
“There are some people saying this is a bad thing, but the truth is you can’t always go with what the government says because they don’t know the industry – they don’t build cars.”
