Duffy thanks Zeldin for getting rid of ‘stop-start’ feature in cars: ‘I hate it’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday commended Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin for targeting his “pet peeve” — an auto feature intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“You know the on-off, the stop-start button on your car? I hate that thing,” Duffy told the crowd at an event in Detroit. “Thank you, Lee Zeldin. He’s gotten rid of it, and the first cars without the start-stop button are rolling off the line.”

In February, the EPA announced it would axe federal incentives for vehicle manufacturers that include the feature in their models. Former President Obama’s administration introduced “off-cycle” credits for vehicles that used the technology in 2012 as a way to reduce greenhouse gases.

The tech automatically stops an engine when the car is not moving and starts again when the driver presses the pedal. It cut nearly 10 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually as of 2023, according to Battery Council International .

In a statement announcing the change, Zeldin pushed back against the fuel efficiency regulations.

“Not only do many people find start-stop annoying, but it kills the battery of your car without any significant benefit to the environment,” he said. “The Trump EPA is proudly fixing this stupid feature at Trump speed.”

The elimination of the start-stop button credits was part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reverse federal emission rules to reduce costs for manufacturers and consumers.

Earlier this year, the EPA also rescinded a 2009 endangerment finding under the Obama administration that held greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles pose a threat to public health. The finding was used to require automakers to follow certain fuel efficiency standards , such as hitting an average of more than 50 miles per gallon across their fleets.

President Trump slammed these regulations as “ridiculous” during White House remarks in which he announced his administration would cancel the finding. He called the move “the single largest deregulatory action in American history.”

The president also downplayed concerns about the impact of these actions on Americans’ public health when asked by a reporter at a White House event.

“Don’t worry about it, because it has nothing to do with public health,” he said at the time. “This was all a scam, a giant scam.”

Justin Chen, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA staffers, criticized the repeal as a “deep betrayal” of the agency’s mission.

“This rollback is nothing short of disastrous for the health and safety of our communities, and it also slams the brakes on the future EPA workers are helping to build,” Chen said in a statement following the announcement. “The clean energy and advanced vehicle industries are creating good-paying American jobs and positioning us to lead the world.”

He added, “Killing that progress now doesn’t just hurt innovation — it hurts workers, families, and the next generation.”