The Trump administration on Thursday postponed a regulation requiring grocery stores to buy climate-friendly models when they purchase new refrigeration systems.
Supermarkets now have until 2032 instead of 2026 to start buying refrigeration units and other appliances that contribute less to global warming. Repealing the Biden-era rule is a Trump administration attempt to tamp down skyrocketing grocery prices.
The 2023 “technology transition rule” targeted a class of chemicals known as hydrofluorocarbons that can be thousands of times as potent for the climate as carbon dioxide. It was one of a suite of standards aimed at phasing down HFCs in favor of climate-friendly alternatives.
But U.S. manufacturers oppose the delay, saying it would make it harder for them to recoup costs they have already incurred retooling to build non-HFC refrigeration and cooling products.
