The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s rule requiring automakers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent starting in 2027 is no more. Newly sworn-in President Trump signed an executive order yesterday, declaring a “national energy emergency” and ending the EPA’s emissions requirements.
Trump, saying he was killing the “ electric vehicle mandate,” signed the order, which also aims to boost domestic oil production. While not entirely an “EV mandate,” the EPA’s rules would have required automakers to shift up to almost 60 percent of their output to electric vehicles by 2032.
Wasting no time after being sworn in, Trump signed a flurry of executive actions during his first partial day in office. He also withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, which he did during his first term, only to have Biden reverse the decision during his four years in office. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” he said during a ceremony after the swearing-in.
The executive actions intend to prioritize domestic energy production, but the U.S. has already been churning out record amounts of crude oil over the last year. Additionally, more drilling doesn’t automatically mean lower prices. People are still paying through the nose for fuel, even as the U.S. extracts more Texas Tea from the ground than it ever has and oil, some companies reported strong financial performance in 2024.
[Images: Jonah Elkowitz, lucasimages, Ford via Shutterstock]
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