WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency rolled back a Biden-era rule Thursday that required grocery stores and air-conditioning manufacturers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cooling equipment. Calling the rule “ridiculous, unnecessary and costly,” President Donald Trump said the change will help Americans save money.
What You Need To Know
The Environmental Protection Agency rolled back a Biden-era rule on Thursday that required grocery stores and air-conditioning manufacturers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cooling equipment
Calling the rule “ridiculous, unnecessary and costly,” President Donald Trump said the change will help Americans save money
The 2023 rule the EPA relaxed on Thursday imposed steep restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere and are considered a major driver of climate change
At the time, the Biden administration said the national phasedown would yield $4.5 billion in savings for industry and consumers and support good-paying American manufacturing jobs. On Thursday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the HFC rule rollback will save over $2.4 billion for American families and safeguard 350,000 jobs
“The so-called technology transition rule, which was crazy, forced companies to adopt specific high-cost refrigerants, massively driving up the price of transporting and storing refrigerants and various goods,” Trump said at a White House news conference where he was joined by the head of the Kroger supermarket chain and local grocery store franchise operators.
“At the same time, this rule also drove up the cost of living by forcing consumers to purchase higher-cost residential air-conditioning units,” he added.
The 2023 rule the EPA relaxed on Thursday imposed steep restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere and are considered a major driver of climate change, the Biden EPA said in a 2023 press release. With compliance dates starting between 2025 and 2028 on HFC usage in over 40 types of foams, aerosol products, refrigeration and air-conditioning and heat-pump equipment, the goal was an 85% HFC reduction by 2036, according to an EPA statement.
At the time, the Biden administration said the national phasedown would yield $4.5 billion in savings for industry and consumers and support good-paying American manufacturing jobs.
But on Thursday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the HFC rule rollback will save over $2.4 billion for American families and safeguard 350,000 jobs.
“Just in supermarkets alone, we’ll see a savings of $800 million, which Americans will be able to see when they go and buy their food,” he said.
Asked how much he expected the change to save the average American family on groceries each week, Trump didn’t have a number, saying only: “Very, very substantial. They’re going to be a big savings.”
The softening of the HFC rules marks the president’s latest effort to address Americans’ affordability concerns, with inflation increasing to an annual rate of 3.8% in April as the Iran war increases prices on fuel and food.
“An orderly transition of equipment reduces both capital costs and operating costs, and at the end of the day that’s good for consumers because we’re able to take that and put that into lowering prices, which is the key objective we have in our business,” Kroger chief executive Greg Foran said Thursday before thanking the president.
Michael Gay, who owns and operates the only food store in a county of 10,000 people in Claxton, Georgia, said: “To replace every piece of equipment in my store would’ve been unbelievably cost prohibitive. If that cost gets too high, you have independent stores close,” he said.
“Once I go away, you’ve created a food desert,” he added. “To try to rush this through is just the wrong way to go.”
The Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores and suppliers, applauded the rule change. In a statement Thursday, the group said implementing the Biden-era transition to alternative coolants would have cost American businesses and consumers $144 billion — “equivalent to an economic burden of more than $1,000 per American household,” according to FIA president Leslie G. Sarasin.
Environmentalists, however, have criticized the rule rollback, saying it will worsen climate pollution and delay a transition to less harmful coolants that is already underway.
The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, representing more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach will disrupt planning and “inject uncertainty across the market.”
Manufacturers have already retooled product lines and certified models based on the existing timeline, said Samantha Slater, a senior vice president at the lobbying group. Nearly 90% of residential and light commercial air-conditioning systems use HFC substitute refrigerants, she said.
Thursday’s announcement marks a reversal of a law Trump signed during his first term that sought to reduce refrigerant emissions that cause climate change. The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 phased out hydrofluorocarbons as part of an international agreement on ozone pollution, accelerating an industry shift to readily available alternative refrigerants that use less harmful chemicals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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