The facts
The Trump administration announced on Monday, September 28, 2026, that it was slashing clean car rules intended to reduce planet-heating emissions and encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. This decision relaxes requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks for model years 2022 through 2031. The Department of Transportation stated the new rule reverses a previous push to accelerate the transition to EVs. Transportation accounts for approximately 28% of total US greenhouse gas emissions. Former President Donald Trump claimed on Truth Social that the less stringent mileage requirements would save families money and boost auto production. Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, stated the initiative, named Freedom Means Affordable Cars, would reduce the average cost of new vehicles by $1,300 and save consumers $138 billion over five years. Environmental groups condemned the rules, with Dan Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity's safe climate transport campaign asserting that the rule ignores clean technology feasibility and that consumers will pay more for fuel. Katherine García of the Sierra Club's Clean transportation for all campaign vowed to fight the rule, stating it would make driving more expensive. The American Lung Association's president and CEO, Harold Wimmer, warned the rule will increase air pollution, harm health, and accelerate climate change.
Our take
In a move that can only be described as the automotive equivalent of setting a landfill on fire for warmth, the Trump administration has officially declared that the future is a fucking lie. The so-called 'Freedom Means Affordable Cars' initiative isn't about freedom or affordability; it's about shackling the country to last century's worst ideas while the planet cooks. They've finalized a rule that tells automakers they can stop trying to control pollution from gasoline cars for the next decade. This isn't a policy shift; it's a surrender to exhaust pipes.
The administration's math is the kind of bullshit you'd expect from a guy selling magic beans. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claims this will save families money by cutting the average new car's sticker price by $1,300. What he doesn't say is that you'll piss that 'savings' away at the pump within a year, because these dirtier, less efficient cars will guzzle more fuel. His promise of $138 billion in consumer savings over five years is a fantasy written in crude oil. The real savings will go to the oil companies and the auto executives who don't want to bother with innovation.
Meanwhile, the guy who started this whole shitshow, Donald Trump, is on Truth Social crowing about how this will 'boost auto production.' Of course it will boost production of the wrong fucking thing. It's like celebrating a boost in typewriter sales because you just burned down the internet. The rule actively reverses the push toward electric vehicles, ensuring the U.S. auto industry remains a global laggard while China and Europe eat our lunch in the clean tech race. It's economic malpractice disguised as populism.
Environmental groups are rightly screaming into the toxic haze. Dan Becker from the Center for Biological Diversity points out the obvious: the rule 'ignores clean technology feasibility.' It's a deliberate, malicious ignorance. Katherine García of the Sierra Club vows to fight it, noting it will make driving more expensive. And Harold Wimmer of the American Lung Association cuts to the core: this will increase air pollution, harm health, and accelerate climate change. The administration's response to these experts is a collective shrug. They've decided that a little extra asthma and a few more climate disasters are a fair price for the 'freedom' to buy a slightly cheaper gas-guzzler.
This isn't governance; it's vandalism. It's a bunch of assholes in suits taking a sledgehammer to the already-fragile project of saving our collective asses from environmental collapse. They've looked at a sector responsible for 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and decided the problem is that it's not polluting enough. The kicker is they've branded this regression as 'freedom.' The only thing it liberates is more carbon dioxide. What a pathetic, dangerous fucking joke.
