What Trump’s pledge to repeal EV, climate regulations mean to Michigan

• The Trump administration announced plans Wednesday to roll back dozens of federal environmental regulations, including auto tailpipe emissions standards
• If implemented, the policies would slow down the EV transition and allow more pollution from Michigan factories and power plants
• Details about any new policies weren’t immediately clear; rollbacks would likely face court challenges

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced plans for sweeping rollbacks of federal environmental regulations that would have huge implications for Michigan’s auto, energy and industrial sectors, as well as the environment and public health.

The staggering series of changes, which include a vow to reconsider emission standards to speed the transition to electric vehicles, comes after Michigan has invested heavily in clean energy and EV battery plants.

“We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin wrote in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal.

Perhaps most significantly nationally, the EPA will reconsider the so-called “endangerment finding,” a 2009 EPA declaration that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. It has served as the scientific basis for a host of regulations that curb climate pollution from power plants, factories and automobiles. 

“We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age,” Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator

Zeldin called Wednesday’s flurry of announcements the “most consequential day of deregulation in American history.”

Environmentalists agree — but they don’t think it’s a good thing.

“Administrator Zeldin's rollbacks are horrible,” said Charlotte Jameson, chief policy officer with the Michigan Environmental Council. “They strip away basic environmental protections Americans expect their nation to have, and our water, air and climate will be imperiled.

“While these rollbacks must stand challenges in court, it's on state governments to fill the breach,” said Jameson, noting that Michigan law allows the state to set protections stronger than the federal government. 

“ If we act promptly, we can insulate our state from the worst harm."

The EPA will also reconsider greenhouse gas emissions limits applying to future passenger vehicle models. Trump has falsely described the rules as a “mandate” for automakers to produce electric vehicles. Instead, they require automakers to cut tailpipe emissions by 50% within the next seven years.

The EPA has forecast that between 35% and 56% of new vehicles sold between 2030 and 2032 would be electric in order for automakers to comply. The auto companies had a long way to go to reach those goals, with EVs accounting for about 8.7% of new sales in 2024.

Related:

• Great Lakes scientists among latest round of Trump cuts in Michigan
• Michigan’s EV transition in limbo as Trump halts climate spending
• How Michigan may be impacted by Trump plan to gut Department of Education
• Michigan automakers get break on Trump tariffs — for now

Michigan has invested heavily in the EV industry, spending $1 billion in five electric vehicle battery plant proposals and promised another $1 billion.

Glenn Stevens Jr., executive director of MichAuto for the Detroit Regional Chamber, said the pullback on tailpipe emissions standards would likely slow the transition from gas-powered vehicles. 

“There’s no doubt that the investment in pure EVs will slow down,” Stevens said. “It will change product plans.

“I’m certain the EV proliferation will continue, it just won’t be at the (same) pace,” Stevens said. “Rather than the government pushing it along, it will be consumers pulling it along.”

In political terms, Wednesday’s actions over greenhouse gas are nothing new; standards have been increased by successive Democratic administrations and rolled back by Republican presidents.

Zeldin also announced the closing of EPA’s Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights office, which was launched in 1992 by Republican President George H.W. Bush to address adverse effects of pollution on minority and low-income groups.

Among the dozens of other policies the EPA announced plans to reconsider Wednesday:

• Rules limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal power plants, which had faced legal challenges from the energy industry and dozens of states amid complaints that compliance would be too costly
• Rules intended to curb the use of hydrofluorocarbons, which are potent greenhouse gases used in air conditioning and refrigeration 
• Rules limiting emissions of hazardous air pollutants from a host of industries
• Rules limiting allowable uses of wastewater produced by the oil and gas industry
• Wastewater and coal ash disposal requirements for coal-fired power plants
• The Regional Haze Program, which requires state and federal collaboration to reduce smog that sullies the view at national parks and wilderness areas
• The Good Neighbor Rule, which is meant to protect downwind states from pollution caused by upwind neighbors. Think Chicago smog wafting into Michigan.
• Limits on fine soot, known as particulate matter, that comes from vehicle tailpipes, factory smokestacks, fires and other activities. These tiny particles are the main cause of haze in the US and are harmful to the lungs and heart
• Rules requiring certain industries to report their annual greenhouse gas emissions to the federal government
• A policy known as the social cost of carbon, which put a price on the long-term economic damage done by continuing to burn fossil fuels. The federal government has used that dollar figure to weigh the merits of policies that would increase or decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

It was not immediately clear how the administration intends to revise those policies, or on what timeline. Lawsuits are likely to follow.

The directives also could have an impact on environmental regulations of Michigan’s power companies. In a statement, DTE spokesperson Amanda Passage reiterated the company’s commitment to clean energy.

“DTE’s clean energy efforts are an important part of our mission in providing customers with clean, reliable, and affordable power,” Passage said in an email. “We will consider the impact to our business as the EPA makes revisions to these rules.”

Wednesday’s announcements align with Trump’s campaign vows to deprioritize EVs and clean energy in favor of oil and gas, while doing away with environmental regulations he sees as bad for business.

But experts have estimated the long-term cost of climate inaction to be far higher than any short-term savings associated with continued reliance on fossil fuels. A 2023 study in the journal Nature estimated that the global cost of extreme weather events caused by climate change could reach $3.1 trillion by midcentury.