Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
President Donald Trump signed an executive order signaling his intention to eliminate the Biden administration’s electric vehicle policies, which he has falsely labeled a “mandate.” Trump also signed an order signaling his intent to weaken tailpipe emission standards, which would be a major blow to the environment.
The orders were among a barrage of executive actions taken by Trump in the immediate aftermath of his inauguration Monday, as he set to work undoing some of the accomplishments of the Biden administration. He also declared a “national energy emergency” in a move meant to weaken environmental standards and allow corporations to pollute more freely.
Under the title “Unleashing American Energy,” Trump lays out his intention to:
(e) to eliminate the “electric vehicle (EV) mandate” and promote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access; by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles; by terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles; and by considering 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;
Later, he says he’ll stop funding for electric vehicle charging:
(a) All agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), including but not limited to funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, and shall review their processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements of such appropriated funds for consistency with the law and the policy outlined in section 2 of this order.
And he says he is directing his agency heads to identify regulations that “impose an undue burden” on “consumer choice of vehicles” — a likely reference to tailpipe emission standards:
Immediate Review of All Agency Actions that Potentially Burden the Development of Domestic Energy Resources. (a) The heads of all agencies shall review all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and any other agency actions (collectively, agency actions) to identify those agency actions that impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources — with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources — or that are otherwise inconsistent with the policy set forth in section 2 of this order, including restrictions on consumer choice of vehicles and appliances.
Trump routinely railed against an imaginary “EV mandate” during last year’s presidential contest, promising to reverse policies aimed at making electric vehicles less expensive for consumers. No such mandate exists, but he’s targeting regulations that incentivized EV sales while slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
Among the policies in Trump’s crosshairs are the federal tax credits for the purchase of a new or used EV. Biden also earmarked over $7 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act for the expansion of EV charging infrastructure, as well as billions in manufacturing credits for companies building EV factories and battery facilities.
In loosening tailpipe emissions, Trump is essentially giving the green light to automakers to produce more polluting vehicles. And it wouldn’t be the first time either. During his first term, Trump directed the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken emissions standards that were put in place by the Obama administration.
But the auto industry has already spent billions of dollars on EV development, and they are likely to continue to do so. EV sales have slowed down over the last few years, but EVs remain popular among shoppers. In 2024, US consumers bought 1.3 million EVs, an increase of 7.3 percent from the prior year, according to Kelley Blue Book and Cox Automotive. The figures do not include hybrids. EV market share was 8.1 percent of sales of US cars and light trucks, an increase of 0.3 percent.
While Trump starts the process of unwinding Biden’s EV policies, he also gestures at ramping up mining efforts, especially for “non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals.” Those materials are used in advanced weaponry, electronics, energy and transportation technologies, including electric vehicles — and is likely the reason Trump has shown interest in Greenland, with its abundance of rare earth minerals.
Burning fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the environment. These emissions have been proven to cause climate change, which supercharges extreme weather like wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding. Transportation, including personal vehicle usage, accounts for about 28 percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA.