Trump revokes grocery and air conditioning pollution rules, calling them too woke

(SeaPRwire) –   The Trump administration on Thursday eased federal requirements that compel grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to cut greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step President Donald Trump said would help bring down grocery costs.

At a White House ceremony, Trump said the Environmental Protection Agency’s action would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by postponing costly limits on the types of refrigerants U.S. businesses and households can use.

The decision to ease Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants called HFCs released by refrigerators and other appliances marks another effort by the Trump administration to address voter worries over living costs ahead of key elections in November.

It is unclear how much or how quickly relaxing the refrigerant rule might affect grocery prices. Industry groups have said the change could lift prices, since manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Inflation in the United States rose to 3.8% on an annual basis in April, amid price spikes tied to the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s broad tariffs. Inflation is now rising faster than wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices elevated.

Trump called the Biden-era regulation “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse” at a ceremony attended by senior executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains. The EPA action will safeguard hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year, he said.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, representing more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the shift would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could lift prices.

“This rule runs counter to basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, the administration “is keeping and even raising demand for existing refrigerants while supply continues to decline.”

Manufacturers have already retooled product lines and certified models based on the existing schedule, Yurek said. Nearly 90% of residential and light commercial air conditioning systems use substitute refrigerants rather than HFCs, he said.

Trump once backed limits on refrigerant pollutant

The administration’s step on refrigerants reverses course after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to cut harmful, climate-warming pollutants released by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into uncommon agreement on the divisive issue of climate change and drew praise across the political spectrum.

The 2020 law reflected broad bipartisan support for swiftly phasing out domestic use of HFCs, greenhouse gases thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and seen as a major contributor to global warming.

The EPA action underscores the second Trump administration’s push to undo rules viewed as climate-friendly. The plan is part of a series of wide-ranging environmental changes that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”

Environmentalists criticized the administration’s move, saying the new rule would worsen climate pollution while disrupting a years-long industry shift to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.

The law drove industry toward less harmful alternatives

The 2020 law Trump signed, the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phased out HFCs under an international agreement on ozone pollution. The law sped up an industry shift to alternative refrigerants that rely on less harmful chemicals and are widely available.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry’s top lobbying group, were among numerous business groups that backed the law and an international deal on pollutants, the Kigali Amendment, as wins for jobs and the environment. U.S. companies such as Chemours and Honeywell developed and produce the alternative refrigerants sold in the United States and globally.

The 2023 rule now being eased imposed strict HFC limits starting in 2026. Zeldin said the Biden administration’s rule did not give companies enough time to comply and that the rapid switch to other refrigerants caused shortages and price increases last year. Some in the industry disagree.

The Food Industry Association, representing grocery stores and suppliers, praised the Trump EPA proposal last year, saying the earlier rule “imposed significant and unrealistic compliance timelines.”