Trump Administration To Loosen EPA Rule On Refrigerant Greenhouse Gases
President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a looser federal rule on refrigerant greenhouse gases at the White House on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 10 a.m. Central.[1]
The change relaxes Biden-era EPA limits on which refrigerants grocery stores and air-conditioning firms can use.[1] Zeldin said the move will save businesses billions of dollars and lower grocery prices, a claim environmental groups immediately condemned.[1]
A 2020 bipartisan law sought a rapid phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons.[1] Those gases are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases, and Trump signed the law at the time.[1]
Zeldin has framed this and other rollbacks as putting a "dagger through the heart of climate change religion," language that has drawn sharp criticism from environmentalists.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Thursday, May 21, 2026, President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin are scheduled to announce a looser federal rule on refrigerant greenhouse gases at 11 a.m. EDT at the White House.
- The change will relax Biden-era EPA restrictions on which refrigerants grocery stores and air‑conditioning companies can use, with Zeldin claiming it will save businesses billions of dollars and lower grocery prices.
- The reversal comes despite a 2020 bipartisan law, signed by Trump, that aimed to rapidly phase down hydrofluorocarbons because they are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases.
- The refrigerant action is one of several environmental rollbacks Zeldin has framed as putting a "dagger through the heart of climate change religion," drawing criticism from environmental groups.
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