The 47th president called for increased American consumer choice while eliminating certain initiatives by prior administrations.
President Donald Trump ordered the removal of incentives for electric vehicles and promoted market choice for consumers as part of the executive orders issued on his first day in office.
In the “Unleashing American Energy” order issued on Jan. 20, Trump said that “burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded” the development of America’s abundant energy resources, “limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens.”
In conjunction with this initiative, the “electric vehicle (EV) mandate” will be eliminated, and “true consumer choice” will be promoted, along with the removal of regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access, according to the order.
It states that it is the policy of the United States to ensure “a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles.”
State emissions waivers that limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles will be terminated, as appropriate, together with the elimination of “unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase by individuals, private businesses, and government entities alike by rendering other types of vehicles unaffordable.”
Trump has not yet clarified which regulatory measures he intends to eliminate or rewrite, but the final national pollution standards announced last year by the Biden administration could be among them.
Under the Biden administration’s rule, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would work toward cutting 7.2 billion tons of carbon emissions by 2055 by ensuring at least 56 percent of new vehicle sales were electric by 2032.
“With transportation as the largest source of U.S. climate emissions, these strongest-ever pollution standards for cars solidify America’s leadership in building a clean transportation future and creating good-paying American jobs, all while advancing President Biden’s historic climate agenda,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said at the time. “The standards will slash over 7 billion tons of climate pollution, improve air quality in overburdened communities, and give drivers more clean vehicle choices while saving them money.”
