loosening refrigerant – The Trump administration is preparing to loosen a federal refrigerant rule that limits the cooling equipment refrigerants grocery stores and air-conditioning companies can use. EPA head Lee Zeldin says the Biden-era restrictions add expensive constraints and t
On the Thursday before the White House event, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin was already making the case that the next shift in how groceries are cooled could show up on store shelves.
Zeldin said the Trump administration is set to loosen a federal rule requiring grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment. He pointed to the Biden-era rule as a source of costly restrictions. arguing it limits the type of refrigerants businesses and families can use. In a statement released before the event. Zeldin said the change will “allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them. saving them billions of dollars. ” adding: “This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices.”.
At the White House event Thursday, President Donald Trump is scheduled to announce the changes, with executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly, and other grocery chains expected to join him.
The administration’s move lands in a politically charged moment. With voter concerns over the cost of living spiking before pivotal elections in November. the Republican administration is working to address affordability. Still, it isn’t clear how much or how quickly loosening the refrigerant rule might ease grocery prices.
Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April. Price spikes have been tied to the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, and inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.
The refrigerant decision also reverses direction from Trump’s first term. The administration’s plan marks a change after Trump signed a law in his first term aimed at reducing harmful. planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That earlier bipartisan measure pushed to phase out domestic use of hydrofluorocarbons. or HFCs—chemicals described in the 2020 law as thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and considered a major driver of global warming. The 2020 law drew a rare alignment between environmentalists and major business groups and earned praise across the political spectrum.
Zeldin’s latest steps are being framed as part of a wider effort in the second Trump administration to roll back regulations viewed as climate-friendly. His target language has been sharp: he has said the administration’s environmental changes would put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”.
Environmentalists, however, have criticized the direction of the shift. They say a proposed rule announced last year would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.
EPA Lee Zeldin refrigerant rule grocery costs Kroger Piggly Wiggly greenhouse gases HFCs hydrofluorocarbons inflation cost of living November elections Trump administration climate regulation