President Trump signed an executive order on April 8, 2025, that orders Attorney General Pam Bondi to scrutinize the constitutionality of state laws that restrict the use of oil, coal and natural gas.
The order, titled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach” targets state laws that limit gas powered equipment and carbon emissions. According to the order, “Americans must be permitted to heat their homes, fuel their cars, and have peace of mind — free from policies that make energy more expensive and inevitably degrade quality of life.
“These State laws and policies try to dictate interstate and international disputes over air, water, and natural resources; unduly discriminate against out-of-State businesses; contravene the equality of States; and retroactively impose arbitrary and excessive fines without legitimate justification.”
A number of states and municipalities have enacted gas-powered outdoor power equipment bans in recent years. This order could nullify those laws. According to the 2025 Rural Lifestyle Dealer Business Trends & Outlook survey, 60.4% of dealers reported they were not concerned about gas-powered equipment bans. The majority (nearly 87%) of dealers who took the survey and answered a question on whether there was a current or proposed gas-powered equipment ban in their AOR said no.
In the survey conducted earlier this year, dealers were asked how they think the wheeled battery powered equipment (not handheld) market will grow or change in the next 5 years and how it would impact their business. One dealer said, “Depends on our state government, if they stay out of it the growth will be really slow, if they start banning gas engines it will grow significantly.”
Another dealer said, “I think it will grow, but the speed will be slow. The incoming administration seems like they'll pull incentives for electrification and do what they can to remove mandates on conversion. That combined with our local political climate being such that we strongly prefer to support the oil & gas industries with ICE power equipment, I don't think that we will be making any major changes any time soon at our dealership."
