EPA head stirs controversy after announcing roll-back on automakers' fuel-saving tech: 'I wasn't the biggest fan of this at first...'
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Zeldin described the feature as "where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy," and said that the EPA is "fixing it."
The statement has struck a nerve, and not just among environmental advocates.
Start/stop systems — which automatically shut off and restart engines when vehicles come to a full stop — have grown to become an industry standard feature in over 65% of new cars sold in 2023. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that idling personal vehicles waste nearly 6 billion gallons of gasoline annually when added altogether, and while it can provide a strange driving experience to get used to, this tech has helped cut both fuel use and heat-trapping pollution while saving Americans money in gas savings in the process.
Zeldin's move comes despite the fact that the EPA has never mandated automakers to include the feature. The agency created incentive structures to encourage its adoption.
Over the years, the technology has evolved significantly — early systems were clunky and worthy of all the criticism and backlash they received. But most modern vehicles now integrate it seamlessly, especially hybrids and EVs. Many models even come with an opt-out button for drivers who prefer not to use it.
Critics see this potential rollback not as a fix, but as a favor to the fossil fuel industry, which has long supported Zeldin's political career through campaign donations — something that was a controversy when he was being considered for the EPA role, given the apparent conflict of interest. Others worry that undoing this small but meaningful advancement might undermine years of progress toward cleaner transportation.
"When this was first coming out I ended up with some rentals that I would say had this poorly implemented. My 2022 CT5 [that has] this feature is not really noticeable, so not sure what a fix is," one commenter responded to the development.
"I'll admit I wasn't the biggest fan of this at first," author Craig Rozniecki also posted in response to Zeldin's tweet. "But then I read more about it; got used to the feature; and quickly learned it saved gas, and with that, money. If you hate it so much, guess what? There's a disable feature as well. Problem solved."
Some others commented to say they were happy about the change, noting a concern that the car may not restart, though it's unclear if they had the same type of unintrusive experience as the commenters who said they found it to be worthwhile or were aware of the ability to disable the feature. It's possible those opposed had only experienced older iterations of the tech.
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Other feedback included commenters suggesting the best outcome may be for the EPA to merely ensure that all vehicles with this technology have a clear way to switch it off without it coming back on unless the driver reactivates it — or at least an ability to increase the number of seconds at a full stop before it activates — and that it would be helpful if the car could track the estimated gas savings in gallons when enabled.
This announcement from the EPA signals a potential shift in the agency's approach to emissions-reducing technologies. As the conversation continues, drivers, automakers, and policymakers alike will be watching closely to see how — or if — this change affects vehicle design, fuel efficiency, and environmental impact going forward.
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