Lee Zeldin says he’s trying to end ‘Obama switch’ that makes cars turn off at stoplights

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said Thursday that the Trump administration is seeking to convince car manufacturers to discontinue the feature that turns off vehicles idling at stoplights.

“We are ending the federal government’s push to get manufacturers to install that Obama switch, the almost universally despised start-stop feature,” Zeldin said while announcing the repeal of the finding that greenhouse gases can be regulated for harming public health.

Experts have debated whether the on-off switch leads to significant fuel savings.

Zeldin also said that “manufacturers will no longer be burdened by measuring, compiling or reporting greenhouse gas emissions for vehicles and engines.”