The First Casualty of Trump’s Climate Action Repeal: The U.S. EV Transition

With the repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific finding on the dangers of greenhouse gases, the Trump administration is aiming to take out many federal actions on climate change in one blast.

The first impact of this deregulatory detonation will be on cars. The EPA packaged its withdrawal of the 17-year-old endangerment finding with elimination of the ambitious tailpipe pollution standards adopted by the Biden administration. It’s a move designed to alter the choices consumers are likely to see in showrooms, the kinds of vehicles rolling off assembly lines and the technology evolution unfolding in U.S. manufacturing.

In fact, the change is already underway. Ford announced in December it would stop making its F-150 Lightning pickup truck and would otherwise scale back its electric vehicle plans. General Motors ended plans to build EVs at its Orion plant in Michigan, shifting the facility to production of big gas-powered models like the luxury Cadillac Escalade SUV and the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. Stellantis has cancelled plans for a fully electric Ram 1500 truck and has scrapped several plug-in hybrids, including the Chrysler Pacifica and Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe.

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