FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 29, 2023
Senate President and House Speaker Warn Federal Government of
Disastrous Impacts EPA Rule Changes Will Have on Arizonans
PHOENIX, ARIZONA— The outrageous federal overreach and liberal extremism of the Biden Administration are on full display as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers two dramatic rule changes on emissions standards for the cars, busses and trucks we use every day to get to our destinations and ship goods across Arizona.
Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma submitted two letters of opposition this month to the EPA during their period of public comment on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles-Phase 3 and Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles, laying out the dire consequences these proposed rules will have within our state.
Through these massive EPA regulations, the Biden Administration wants to force a transition from gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles, radically transforming our nation's entire automotive industry and costing billions of dollars to achieve such lofty standards. If these rules go into effect, two-thirds of all new vehicles sold in the United States by 2032 are expected to be electric.
"Not only does the production of these vehicles contribute to hazardous impacts on the environment, but their power source creates huge health and safety risks to drivers and first responders in the event of a crash or a fire," said Senator Sine Kerr, Chairman for the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water. "These radical regulations will have catastrophic impacts on lives and livelihoods, as well as an already strained power grid. We urge the EPA to do the right thing and protect our citizens by rejecting these rules."
"Forcing a transition to electric cars will make our country more dependent on China, threaten our national security, stretch our electric grid to the breaking point, make traffic crashes more dangerous and more deadly, increase the cost of goods and kill countless American jobs," said Senator Frank Carroll, Vice Chairman for the Senate Committee on Transportation and Technology. "The federal government's assumption that the average person can afford a $60,000 electric vehicle is completely out of touch with reality and will greatly jeopardize our economy." To read letter #1: Click Here ↓
To read letter #2: Click Here ↓
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For more information, contact:
Kim Quintero
Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus
Let's not forget the $32 Billion produce trade that is trucked through our southern borders every day. Will the produce companies afford these mandates? Will the American people be able to afford the raised produce and product price increases? This will surely close our Arizona border ports while Mexico trucks to California and Texas on their side on the fence. "The new standards would be applicable to HD vocational vehicles ... and tractors (such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks)." Forget about the I-11 corridor.