SEMA CEO Testifies in opposition to EPA proposed emissions standards
SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola testified before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in opposition to the agency’s recently proposed new federal emissions standards for motor vehicles model years ’27 to ’32.
SEMA SAN - SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola testified before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in opposition to the agency’s recently proposed new federal emissions standards for motor vehicles model years '27 to '32, which are intended to dramatically increase sales of electric vehicles (EVs). The EPA maintains its proposal would lead to electric vehicles making up two-thirds of new passenger vehicles sold in the United States by 2032.
Overview of EPA Proposed Standards
The EPA recently proposed rules requiring light-duty vehicles to meet increasingly stringent emissions reductions for model year 2027 through 2032 model year (see table below).
It has also eliminated an exemption provided to low-volume car manufacturers (those that produce fewer than 5,000 vehicles a year).
The proposal, as drafted, is essentially the knock-out punch to the internal combustion engine technologies the specialty automotive aftermarket has built its industry around.
The Biden Administration estimates this proposal will result in two out of three new vehicles sold in the U.S. being electric by 2032. The proposal is not technology neutral, as the EPA and White House suggest.
Ultimately, if these regulations are implemented, it will likely lead to more government subsidies to large automakers to manufacture EVs and for consumers to purchase them.
We have already witnessed massive government subsidies to implement the infrastructure to support EVs:
- The Infrastructure Bill that became law in 2022 funded 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations nationally
- The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 financially incentivized Americans to purchase electric vehicles
- Government policies should support the work of small business innovators that employ millions of Americans by letting the market and innovation drive solutions to the environmental challenges we all seek to solve.
- The unintended consequences of these regulations will be extremely far-reaching, adversely impacting rural and urban vehicle owners and reducing consumer choice.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the EPA’s proposal.
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