00:00Groceries are still expensive.
00:02The White House says they found a fix
00:04in your grocery store's cooler,
00:05but the industry that makes the actual equipment
00:07says it won't work.
00:09So can what's inside your fridge
00:10actually change what you pay at the register?
00:13Here's what's happening.
00:14The Trump administration reversed Biden-era rules
00:16pushing grocery stores and trucking companies
00:18to phase out a class of chemicals called HFC,
00:21or the stuff that keeps your food cold.
00:23The idea is that if stores don't have to buy
00:25expensive new equipment,
00:26they pass those savings on to you.
00:28The White House says this saves Americans $2.4 billion.
00:32The industry that makes refrigerators
00:34says it could actually raise prices instead.
00:37Now, HFCs are thousands of times more potent than CO2,
00:40which is why both parties agreed to phase them out.
00:43That was a bipartisan law
00:44Trump actually signed himself in 2020.
00:46Biden's EPA then set aggressive deadlines
00:49and some smaller grocery stores said they simply couldn't
00:52keep up with the cost of new equipment.
00:54So what's happening now?
00:55Well, Trump extended those deadlines
00:57at an Oval Office ceremony flanked by executives
00:59from Kroger and Piggly Wiggly.
01:01For stores that hadn't upgraded yet,
01:03the relief was real.
01:04A potentially million dollar equipment overhaul
01:06has been avoided.
01:07But as CNN points out,
01:09avoiding a future expense isn't the same thing
01:11as lowering today's prices.
01:13Manufacturers trade groups warn that the rollback
01:15actually increases demand for HFC refrigerants
01:18while supply is falling,
01:20which pushes costs up, not down.
01:22Many major chains already upgraded anyway,
01:24and stricter state laws in places like California
01:26mean this federal change doesn't affect them at all.
01:29So the administration is trying something.
01:31Whether it's the right something is a different question.
01:34But what do you think?
01:35Is this actually helping,
01:36or is it just the appearance of helping?
01:38Drop your take in the comments
01:39and follow us here for more.
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