Those ominous words come from Robert Glaser, president of the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association. Glaser is responding to the potential impact of a tailpipe emissions bill supported by Rep. Pricey Harrison, which could add $1,000 to $4,000 to the price of a new car or truck bought in North Carolina.
Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, told Mark Binker of the Greensboro News-Record the bill has a better chance of passing this session than in previous sessions. If Harrison and others get their way, North Carolinians will experience bigtime sticker shock. We will have a great incentive to buy in another state. From the Binker story (emphasis is mine):
Automakers and dealers have lobbied against the state emissions rules, persuading North Carolina lawmakers to block their passage in previous General Assembly sessions.
“There should be one national standard, not a patchwork,” said Robert Glaser, president of the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association. Allowing the states to put their own regulations in place, he said, would create confusion for consumers, regulators and the car industry alike.
There are skeptics in the General Assembly as well, including Rep. Nelson Cole, a Reidsville Democrat who has been heavily involved in transportation issues.
“The emission standards that would be put in place under the California (standards) add to the cost of cars,” Cole said. With auto manufacturers and their affiliated dealers struggling, he said, “this is not the time to be doing that.”
Glaser agreed.
“It’s quite possibly the worst time possible to file a bill like this,” he said.
We can thank President Barack Obama and other global warming alarmists for this renewed effort to force North Carolinians to pay more for a new car or truck. Why? It relates to the president’s directive to the EPA to reconsider a California request for a waiver from federal standards. Locke Foundation Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst explains in this Locker Room blog.
Yes, elections do have consequences.
