Update: This story has been updated with specific details related to criteria pollutants and air toxics, as outlined by the EPA.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has effectively eliminated automatic stop/start. As part of what it calls the “single largest deregulatory action in US history,” the EPA removed rules that encouraged automakers to include fuel-saving technologies like stop/start in their vehicles.
These rollbacks may sound innocuous on the surface—auto stop/start is pretty annoying—but what we’re seeing is an attempt to gut decades’ worth of emissions regulations. And that could have far-reaching consequences for the US.
As part of the rollback, the EPA—by its own admission—is “eliminating” the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding and all subsequent federal GHG emission standards initiated by the Obama administration in 2009.
The Endangerment Finding determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a risk to public health and welfare. That, in turn, allowed the government to introduce rules like auto stop/start aimed at regulating carbon emissions outlined under the Clean Air Act.
The regulations affected more than just cars. The emissions ruling also set standards for pollution emitted by power plants and methane leaks from oil and gas operations, all major contributors to climate change, according to the ruling. According to the EPA, sectors outside of automotive will remain unaffected: “Today’s action is only related to GHG emissions and does not affect regulations that combat criteria pollutants and air toxics.”
These rollbacks may sound innocuous on the surface—auto stop/start is pretty annoying—but what we’re seeing is an attempt to gut decades’ worth of emissions regulations.
Under the Obama administration, greenhouse gas emissions fell by 10 percent between 2005 and 2020. Power sector emissions specifically dropped by 27 percent, and total US energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 12 percent during that time.
When these rollbacks were initially proposed in 2025, many clean air advocates sounded the alarm then. Conrad Schneider, senior director at the Clean Air Task Force, said:
‘By seeking to rescind the Endangerment Finding and the vehicle emissions standards, EPA is taking a drastic step in its attack on clean air regulations—needlessly putting the health of millions of Americans at risk. The administration is using pollution regulations as a scapegoat in its approach to energy affordability, placing its bets on cost savings instead of evidence-based public health and climate benefits. We are dismayed that an administration that claims to care about cleaner, healthier, and safer air is seeking to dismantle the very protections required for those conditions.’
Photo by: Getty Images
With the Trump Administration and head of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, now gutting many of the Obama-era federal greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act, not only will automakers be free to drop things like auto stop/start aimed at reducing carbon emissions, but factories and oil plants may now potentially spew as much pollution into the air as they please.
According to Zeldin, “the Endangerment Finding has been the source of 16 years of consumer choice restrictions and trillions of dollars in hidden costs for Americans.”
So, how much money will you save on your next ride now that emissions standards have all but been eliminated? According to the EPA’s press release, customers should expect a $2,400 decrease per vehicle.
A small price to pay for reducing environmental protections, surely.
