Golden Statement on Maine Board of Environmental Protection Electric Vehicle Vote
LEWISTON – Ahead of the Maine Board of Environmental Protection’s anticipated Thursday vote to adopt California’s zero- and low-emission vehicle regulations, Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) released the following statement:
“In two days, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection will vote on proposed rules that would establish a California-style set of mandates forcing Maine auto dealers – and ultimately their customers – to purchase zero emission vehicles. Earlier this year, I submitted testimony in opposition to such a mandate and have taken every opportunity in Congress to vote against policy that amounts to de facto electric vehicle mandates. Forcing Mainers to purchase cars and trucks powered by electricity when our grid is insufficient, charging stations are few and far between, and a storm like yesterday’s would render 80% of cars useless is, to say the least, ill-advised. As I wrote in my testimony, keeping Maine’s environment healthy is a goal we all share, but it’s one that demands thoughtful, place-based policy-making – not the broad-stroke application of a California law that would place an undue burden on hard-working Mainers.”
Maine’s Second District is one of the most rural districts in the country. Many communities still rely culturally and economically on the heritage industries of fishing, farming, and forestry – all industries which require medium to heavy-duty trucks.
Currently, the Second District does not have the infrastructure to support a widespread switch to Zero Emissions Vehicles. According to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), since 2020 there has only been an annual one percent increase in the number of registered battery powered and plug-in electric vehicles.
Golden’s statement follows his vote earlier this month for the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act of 2023, legislation that would prohibit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from finalizing its proposed rule establishing new emissions standards on light and medium-duty vehicles from model years 2027 through 2032. In September, Golden voted for the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act which would prohibit the EPA from allowing states to directly or indirectly limit the sale or use of new gas-powered cars.
In reaction to the state proposal, the Maine DEP held a public hearing on the petitions in August and Golden submitted the formal comments in opposition to the proposal.
The full text of the comments can be found here and below.
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On May 23, 2023, the Department received a citizen petition to initiate rulemaking pursuant to 5 M.R.S. § 8055. The petition was submitted by Emily K. Green of the Conservation Law Foundation, Matthew Cannon of the Sierra Club, and Jack Shapiro of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and included the certified signatures of more than 150 registered voters. The petition proposes to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation to encourage the sale of electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles greater than 8,500 pounds GVWR. Please accept this as my written testimony in opposition to the adoption of this proposed rule.
Mainers proudly work to protect the environment of our state. I, too, wish to take steps to address the threats of climate change and the goal of keeping our pristine vistas along our coast, mountains, and farmlands intact. Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) will eventually – and undoubtedly – play a role in those efforts. Forcing manufactures – via dealerships in Maine – to offer ZEV medium and heavy duty trucks absent any connection to market forces or the pace of advances in that technology, or its necessary accompanying infrastructure, is, in my opinion, unwise.
Maine’s Second Congressional District is among the most rural in the country. Our heritage industries of fishing, farming, and forestry depend on over-the-road heavy hauling. Additionally, many in those trades employ the use of medium duty service trucks tending to farming, fishing, and forestry equipment in remote and undeveloped areas of the state. Dana Doran, Executive Director of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine spoke of this in his testimony before the BEP earlier this month:
“...membership hauls and delivers raw forest products throughout the state from the forest to the mill. The majority of the product that our members haul is derived from remote forested areas and is delivered by heavy duty trucks to other rural areas. These trucks generally operate in areas without access to electrical infrastructure, must be able to function 24 hours a day and must be reliable at all times of year, especially in the winter. Put simply, this industry cannot safely and sensibly be mandated to use Heavy Duty Zero Emission Vehicles in locations that lack the proper electrical infrastructure to support them. Forcing the industry to use these vehicles without the infrastructure puts the entire forest products supply chain at risk…”
I have heard similar concerns when talking with many leaders in the commercial fishing and farming industries. Additional testimony given by Randy Hutchins, President and CEO of O'Connor Chevrolet, should also give pause. Mr. Hutchins’ dealership provides a large percentage of medium and heavy duty trucks to the market in central Maine. During his testimony he detailed his outreach with manufacturers of these platforms and learned no heavy duty trucks will be available in the quantities required under the timeline set by the proposed rule. Manufacturers also told Mr. Hutchins – according to his testimony – that it was unlikely, without great strides in technology, that ZEV heavy duty vehicles would ever become a reality.
Protecting our environment is of the utmost concern. Investments in new technologies and rewards via tax incentives would be a better course of action when compared to the proposed adoption of California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation. I was proud to support the Inflation Reduction Act in the last Congress. The incentives for domestic production of new technologies were a primary driver in gaining my support.
Respectfully, I must register my opposition to the proposed rule 06-096 Chapter C.M.R. 128 California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation.
Thank you,
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