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Lethal legislation
Proposed emissions law would adversely impact vehicle sales
Published Thursday, March 20, 2008
Steve Brimhall
If Minnesota adopts California’s emissions program, it will severely limit the sale of trucks and minivans in this state, according to a local auto dealer.
Rep. Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park) and Sen. John Marty (D-Roseville) have introduced legislation that would require Minnesota to implement California’s low emissions vehicle regulations. The regulations require each auto manufacturer to meet an average fuel economy for the entire fleet of vehicles they manufacture. The only way this standard can be met, according to Scott Lambert, executive vice president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Assoc-iation, is to severely limit the sale of lower fuel economy vehicles (SUVs, pick-up trucks, minivans) from their line-up, forcing the sale of vehicles with higher fuel economy, such as compact cars.
That spells trouble for local auto dealers, said Steve Brimhall, dealer operator of Minnesota Motor.
“It puts more controls on us that we don’t need.,” Brimhall said. “It’s going to affect all of our pickup sales … Our economy is a farm economy and this is huge for us. Pickups are a large part of our business. All over Minnesota, we’re a huge agricultural area. We’re all in favor of improving air quality, but we have to be careful we don’t put ourselves out of business.”
Offering some hope, local legislators are skeptical it will pass the legislature.
“If it does, I’m pretty certain the governor will veto it,” Dist. 10A Rep. Bud Nornes (R-Fergus Falls) said.
Although Dist. 10 Sen. Dan Skogen (DFL-Hewitt) voted for it, he has no plans of supporting it any further.
“It was stuck in an ag committee,” Skogen said. “I voted for it to help a colleague get it out of committee. But I won’t vote for it in its current form. I don’t like that it ties us to California’s regulations. It’s a very different dynamic in California. It’s not a very good rule the way it is.”
It’s the worst thing they could do to Minnesota consumers and auto dealers,” Nornes said. “It would be very restrictive on the extreme end of where we want to be.”
While all states must comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality standards, California has a waiver from the EPA to enact emissions standards more stringent than required. In order for a state to adopt standards more strict than those required by the EPA, the only alternative is to adopt California’s emissions standards, Lambert said.
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