My goodness. It’s no secret government occasionally tries to hide “bad news” in late Friday information dumps. Well, they do the same during holiday breaks, and if you weren’t watching regulations.gov on December 26th—and who in their right mind would be doing that??— you would have missed that EPA opened up a comment period signaling their intention to green light California’s ban on sales of new gas, diesel, flex fuel and traditional hybrid vehicles. Clearly, EPA is not too keen on public scrutiny or engagement where vehicle bans are concerned. Too bad we know how to mobilize quickly.

Submit your comment to EPA now  

Per usual, we have a draft comment ready for you to submit to EPA on our website. We encourage you to customize that comment, respectfully, to capture your own voice, concerns and experience. Your industry perspective, paired with the solid arguments we’ve been building over the last couple years, will make an impact in Washington and we’ll make sure members of Congress see it as well.  

Here are the toplines we cover in the comments:

• What California is trying to do is against the law.  
• California’s vehicle mandates and bans affect every American, not just those in “California states.”   
• China will be the #1 beneficiary of California’s ban and timeline, and we’ll be sacrificing our energy security to make China more dominant.  
• A more affordable, cleaner transportation future is one that includes traditional hybrids, efficient internal combustion engines and lower-carbon-intensity liquid fuels. EVs have a part to play, too, but their growth shouldn’t depend on banning traditional powertrains.

 I’ve shared my backstory before, so you guys know this issue is personal. I was born and raised in California. It’s where I learned to drive; it’s where I went to college; it’s where I bought the 2007 Toyota Camry that I’m still driving to this day. I am so disappointed by California’s extremism around vehicle policy, its hostility to our industries and jobs, and how cavalier it’s being about policy that’s going to undercut our security. We have to raise all these objections to the EPA.  

Let us know if you have questions or additional points we should raise. Once you submit your own comment, please consider forwarding this message along to others so they can get their opinion on the record with EPA as well.  

Ericka Perryman