Amid President Donald Trump's active promotion of deregulation and supply expansion policies to stabilize soaring living costs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially announced measures on Thursday, the 21st, to ease regulations related to refrigerants used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

This move effectively reverses regulations introduced during the previous Joe Biden administration. President Trump expected cost savings through this policy, such as lowering logistics costs, cooling bills, and grocery prices.

President Trump announced these policies at the White House on this day, alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and industry representatives.

"We are officially repealing the absurd regulations imposed by the Biden administration that have caused excessive costs for refrigerators and air conditioners," President Trump stated. "Consumer costs will be significantly reduced, and hundreds of thousands of jobs will be protected."

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), used as refrigerants in cooling equipment like refrigerators and air conditioners, are known as greenhouse gases thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere.

HFCs were introduced as a replacement for Freon gas (CFCs), which was banned due to its role in ozone layer depletion, but they are still considered one of the primary contributors to global warming.

Consequently, the Biden administration had introduced policies to phase down the use of HFCs and encourage the use of more environmentally friendly alternative refrigerants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

President Trump criticized this, saying, "By forcing businesses to use specific high-cost refrigerants, they have dramatically increased the costs of transporting, handling, and storing various goods."

He added, "Many grocery stores and restaurants were forced to replace their refrigerators, and half of them went out of business. These cost increases have led Americans to experience higher grocery prices."

He further stated that these relaxed refrigerant emission regulations would result in "savings of over $2.4 billion annually for American households and businesses."

The Trump administration's second term has been characterized by a rollback of Biden administration climate policies, including deregulation of power plant and vehicle emissions.

This move is also interpreted as a response to voter dissatisfaction with rising prices and living costs ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Meanwhile, President Trump postponed the signing of an executive order on an 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation Compromise' that was scheduled for this day.

Reuters and other outlets had previously reported that the executive order was expected to allow the government to review AI models before their release.

This led to speculation that the White House, which has maintained a deregulatory stance on the AI industry, might be shifting towards some form of regulation.

President Trump told reporters on this day, "I postponed it because I didn't like some of the content. I thought this measure might hinder us from getting ahead of China and all other countries."

He added, "I don't want to take any action that threatens our lead in the AI industry. We have a very solid foundation in AI, and AI is providing us with tremendous benefits and numerous jobs."

US NNP = Chief Reporter Sung Ku Hong / Special Contribution by this publication NNP info@newsandpost.com