Automotive Industry and Fuel Economy

The Trump administration announced that the EPA is formally repealing the 2009 greenhouse‑gas 'endangerment finding' that underpinned federal regulation of CO₂ and other climate‑warming emissions from cars, trucks and power plants, and as part of that overhaul will eliminate compliance credits automakers receive for equipping vehicles with automatic engine start/stop systems. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, calling the feature 'almost universally hated,' cast the move as a consumer‑cost measure and claimed the broader rollback will save buyers about $2,400 on a new car, even though about two‑thirds of new vehicles already use start/stop and studies show it can boost fuel economy by 7% to 26% depending on conditions. Consumer advocates counter that safety and fuel‑economy rules have only a marginal effect on sticker prices and that soaring vehicle costs are driven more by luxury content and dealer markups than by emissions technology. Automakers including Ford and Stellantis publicly welcomed the decision, saying it gives them more flexibility to offer a wide mix of internal‑combustion, hybrid and electric models they argue Americans can afford. The change marks one of the most sweeping reversals yet of federal climate policy, effectively abandoning the legal basis for EPA greenhouse‑gas regulation across major sectors even as transportation remains the largest U.S. source of planet‑warming emissions.