White House says it’ll save Individuals $2,400 on automobile purchases & Begin-stop characteristic on automobiles will not be a requirement
The Trump administration’s repeal of the Obama-era “endangerment finding” will lower car costs by an average of $2,400 per vehicle, the White House and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) touted Thursday.
Here’s why.
The action announced by President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin ends former President Barack Obama’s sweeping anti-greenhouse gas policy, which allowed the EPA to measure and constrain emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other gases from all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 and beyond.
Regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the 2009 policy added “incalculably large” costs to carmakers and consumers, according to one expert, who suggested the savings could be even larger than what the Trump administration expects.
“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 noted that consumers and businesses also stand to benefit from the deregulation of emissions by being able to redirect money saved on vehicle costs.
“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.
The EPA notes that both the “avoided costs of purchasing equipment related to [electric vehicles],” which carmakers increasingly began manufacturing in the wake of the 2009 policy, and reduced “regulatory compliance costs“ will also contribute to lower prices.
At the White House, Zeldin proclaimed that “manufacturers will no longer be burdened by measuring, compiling or reporting greenhouse gas emissions for vehicles and engines.”
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Trump and Zeldin also announced Thursday that the start-stop feature “forced” on American car buyers under Obama’s endangerment finding would no longer be a requirement on new vehicles.