As President Donald Trump sees it, environmental regulations that try to improve efficiency and address climate change will only make products more expensive and perform worse. He has long blamed efficiency regulations for his frustration Things like toilets and Shower heads. He began his second term in office.”Unlocking prosperity through deregulation“.
But there is at least one big way that American businesses and households may pay more, not less, for the president’s anti-environmental moves.
If you’re in the market for a car, you’ve probably noticed: cars It became more expensive. Kelley Blue Book reported that the average The sticker price of the new car exceeded $50,000 For the first time in September.
Not only have they become more expensive to purchase; Cars are becoming more expensive to own. For most Americans, gasoline is the largest energy consumer of all $2,930 per family Every year on average.
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While a more efficient dishwasher, light bulb or faucet may have a higher price up front — especially as manufacturers adapt to new rules — cars, appliances, solar panels and electronics can pay for themselves more with lower operating costs over their lifetime. Trump’s agenda of suddenly rolling back efficiency rules has made it harder for many industries to do business while raising costs for ordinary Americans.
No one knows this better than the US auto industry, which has been teetering between competing ecosystems for more than a decade.
President Barack Obama Tighten vehicle efficiency and pollution standards. In his first term, Trump has watered them down. President Joe Biden It restored and strengthened them. Now Trump Reverse course again — leaving The US auto industry is worth $1.6 trillion Not sure what role to take next.
Organization strike
In July, the Environmental Protection Agency began to reverse the process constituent The legal basis that allows the agency to reduce climate pollution caused by cars. Without it, the EPA would have much less authority to require automakers to make cleaner vehicles, hampering efforts to reduce… The largest source of carbon emissions.
Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Sean P. Duffy, said in a… Statement over the summer These moves “will lower vehicle costs and ensure that the American people can buy the cars they want.”
But in reality, this shift may have the opposite effect.
This is because when rules change every few years, automakers struggle to meet current standards and cannot plan for the future. Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group Representing companies Like Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen, they sent A Letter to EPA In September, saying the administration’s moves were… Eliminate incentives for electric cars This means that current car pollution rules put in place under Biden that extend until 2027 are “simply unachievable.” The Trump administration responded – Abolishing any penalties for violations — but the industry is already planning for a post-Trump world, where the rules could change radically again.
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Because it takes years and billions of dollars to develop new cars that comply with more stringent rules, automakers prefer to keep regulations in place one way or another. Each rule change adds time and expense to the development lifecycle, which is eventually incorporated into the vehicle’s price tag.
The rule change is also troublesome for electric car makers, which… Models are gaining traction Whether in the United States or around the world, even as the Trump administration did End tax incentives for electric vehicles. Trump is making things more difficult by withdrawing support for him Local battery production That would help American auto companies build electric cars.
All of this is a huge headache for the industry. “Especially in the last six months, I think ‘chaos’ is a good word because they’re getting hit from every angle,” he said. David Cooksenior associate director at The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research.
All this uncertainty makes cars more expensive to buy and operate, with more costly consequences for people’s health and the environment in the long term.
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As the government relaxes efficiency targets, progress will stall and car buyers will be stuck with cars that cost more to run.
Energy Innovation, a think tank, found this cancellation Exhaust standards could cost households an additional $310 billion by 2050, mainly through increased spending on gasoline. Rolling back the standards would also increase air pollution and shrink the job market for electric vehicle manufacturing in the United States due to lower demand.
Even the Trump administration Private analysis One effect of rolling back EPA greenhouse gas emissions regulations is that his moves will lead to higher gasoline prices due to increased fuel consumption from less efficient vehicles.
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“Repealing these standards in particular would set America back decades,” he said. Sarah Baldwinsenior director of electrification at Energy Innovation.
As the Trump administration changes direction, other countries are racing ahead. Automakers can design electric vehicles faster than traditional internal-combustion vehicles, since EVs generally contain fewer components, and manufacturers don’t have to worry about designing pollution controls to meet tighter restrictions. Because electric vehicles are mechanically simpler, they are also Needs less maintenance. By contrast, conventional cars take about five years to get from the drawing board to the lot, so the gasoline-powered cars being designed now won’t be released before 2030 — when there’s someone else in the White House.
The American auto industry also serves other countries. Markets like Europe are very committed to their environmental regulations and are looking to do so Banning the sale of internal combustion cars completely. At the same time, China manufactures some… The cheapest and most popular electric cars in the world.
That’s why some American automakers are setting their sights outside the shores of the United States and continue to bet on more electric cars. Earlier this year, Ford announced it was in development A $30,000 electric pickup truck For the U.S. and for export, it’s a sign that the company sees huge potential in cheap electric vehicles despite the Trump administration’s efforts to rein in EVs.
Although car companies often complain about the expense and effort they have to expend as environmental regulations become more stringent, regulatory uncertainty remains a much greater headache. “These changes in regulations are really disrupting the industry and hurting our global economic competitiveness,” he said. Gregory Kilianco-director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan. “It’s not just painful in terms of setting us back in terms of Carbon removal From the transportation sector, but the cost is borne by US consumers.