President Obama and other administration officials were happy to announce that new regulations would require that new cars built for the 2012 model year and beyond would need to be more fuel efficient. Their move could actually increase interest in used cars in New York instead.

Economist Eric Morris writes in the New York Times that because it costs money to develop the technology for fuel efficient cars, new car prices will likely rise higher in the coming years and make used cars a more likely proposition for some buyers.

“Depending on the models involved and their mileage, keeping used cars around a bit longer may ultimately have benefits for the environment, given the energy that goes in to building a new car,” he writes on the paper’s website.

Right now, larger used cars in New York and around the country are seeing more interest from buyers, thanks to low gas prices, reports USA Today.

“People are more price conscious than gas [price] conscious,” one dealer told the news provider of the shift in buying to larger cars and SUVs.