President Trump announced on Thursday that his administration is easing restrictions on the potent planet-warming chemicals used in air-conditioners and refrigerators — restrictions put in place because of a bipartisan law Mr. Trump signed during his first term.
The move will slow plans to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or chemical compounds sometimes called “super pollutants” because of their enormous effect in driving climate change. The administration framed it as an effort to lower grocery prices that are testing voters’ finances before November’s midterm elections.
Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, joined Mr. Trump at the White House Thursday to announce the relaxation of requirements for grocery stores, air-conditioning companies, semiconductor plants and others to reduce production and use of the chemicals, which are also known as HFCs.
“Many Americans were expressing a lot of frustration and anger at this rushed, frantic, reckless sprint by the Biden administration to phase out reliable equipment for grocery stores,” Mr. Zeldin said, adding, “The Trump administration is answering the call, which will lower the cost of living for hard-working American families.”
The administration said loosening the restrictions on HFCs would save businesses and families more than $2.4 billion. Mr. Trump faces growing political pressure to address the cost of living, especially as the war in Iran has driven up gas prices.
But analysts said the move would do little to lower grocery costs, which are elevated because of tariffs, extreme weather and soaring fuel prices since the start of the conflict in Iran.
“This move is highly unlikely to produce any noticeable reduction in grocery prices for consumers,” said David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University. “We’re talking about refrigeration, and that’s a very small share of the overall cost of food.”
Dr. Ortega said that higher diesel prices in particular have raised the cost of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are either shipped or trucked into the United States. He added that, ironically, climate change is driving more severe droughts that have increased the prices of tomatoes and beef, among other items.
The regulations that are being eased stem from a 2020 law that was seen as a rare bipartisan success in tackling climate change. It was broadly supported by industry.
But the administration is blaming the Biden-era regulations for raising grocery prices as well as making it more expensive to transport refrigerated goods to grocery stores and restaurants.
The chief executive of Kroger, Greg Foran, said at the White House event that easing the rules would lead to cost savings for customers of the major grocery chain.
“We’re concerned about the cost of living,” Mr. Foran said, although he did not offer details on specific price cuts or timing.
Mr. Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” said the rollback would raise “no environmental concern.”
“It’s not going to have any impact on the environment,” he said.
However, HFCs are a huge contributor to human-caused global warming. While they linger in the atmosphere for a shorter time than carbon dioxide, they are hundreds to thousands of times more potent at trapping heat.
Phasing out HFCs worldwide could avert up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by the end of the century, which would go a long way toward keeping the worst consequences of climate change from becoming reality. More than 190 nations, including the United States, agreed to sharply reduce the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons.
The Biden administration aimed to cut the production and consumption of HFCs by 85 percent by 2036. Doing so would eliminate the equivalent of about three years’ worth of climate pollution from the electricity sector.
But Mr. Zeldin has said that regulation did not give companies enough time to switch to other refrigerants. He said the industry had faced shortages that left families sweltering without air conditioning in the summertime. The E.P.A. also maintained that if fully implemented, the Biden-era rule would make it impossible for grocery stores to afford equipment to store perishable foods and would cause semiconductor manufacturing to come to a halt.
Air-conditioning and refrigeration manufacturers had supported the original restrictions, saying less harmful chemicals were available and that a shift toward those alternatives was already underway. The original rule was also seen as a win for American companies like Honeywell and Chemours that produce and sell alternatives to HFCs.
“American manufacturers did what Congress and the first Trump administration asked them to do: They invested in new equipment, new refrigerants, new production lines and American workers,” said John Hurst, the executive director of the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, an industry group. “The administration has now changed course in a way that weakens those investments.”
One rule finalized on Thursday would extend deadlines for phasing out the use of HFCs and make a wider variety of refrigerants available to businesses. A second change would exempt the refrigerant transportation sector from a separate Biden-era rule that sought to reduce leaks of HFCs.
Lisa Friedman is a Times reporter who writes about how governments are addressing climate change and the effects of those policies on communities.
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