The EPA And Trump Are Removing CO2 Regulations And Car Start-Stop Systems

In the European Union, it was already quite remarkable that the total ban on non-electric cars was finally lifted by 2035. CO₂ reduction also has a huge impact on everything related to cars. After all, they simply have to be as fuel-efficient as possible to comply with the regulations, and therefore, increasingly, they are electric or at least hybrid.

In the US, the latter wasn’t the case, and the requirements were already more relaxed, but even there, there were indeed targets for the CO₂ emissions of the total fleet sold by each manufacturer. However, this is no longer the case. As previously announced, the “Endangerment Finding” has been scrapped. This “finding” is a 2009 ruling that established that greenhouse gases, including CO₂, pose a risk to public health. The finding was the legal basis for all greenhouse gas-related legislation. With the removal of this ruling, all that legislation, including laws, standards, and requirements related to the CO₂ emissions of cars and (light) trucks, is abolished. CO₂ emissions are directly related to fuel consumption, so a car can now consume virtually anything.

It’s been said more often lately that Europe and America are growing apart, but in the automotive sector, this is more true than ever. While car manufacturers in our country have to invest as much as possible to reduce vehicle consumption, there are no longer any reasons for the American market to invest heavily in this area.

End of start-stop

According to Lee Zeldin, director of the official US environmental agency EPA, that’s precisely the advantage. In an unmistakably American statement, he claims that the Endangerment Finding was the holy grail of the “climate religion.” Removing the legislation would lead to “cheaper cars for American families.” In fact, everything would become cheaper, because the trucks that deliver all sorts of goods would also become cheaper. Finally, Zeldin exults, the Trump administration’s move puts an end to the start-stop system, which almost everyone would hate.

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