By Sen. Brad Farrin
When 150 environmental activists petitioned the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) to consider adopting the Advanced Clean Cars II Program, or “California rule,” their maneuver to bypass the Legislature was both a flagrant and brazen attempt to force their progressive climate agenda upon Maine consumers. Their strategy? Forcing Mainers to buy electric vehicles, or EVs, by limiting the sale of gas-powered ones.
Hello, this is Senator Brad Farrin of Somerset County. It is my pleasure to join you for this week’s Republican Radio Address.
Maine BEP was scheduled to vote on the issue on Dec. 21 of last year. As fate would have it, however, they had to cancel the vote because the state experienced a massive storm that knocked out power for almost a week in parts of the state. Yes, the irony of the situation cannot be overstated here – what a twist.
Because they had to delay the vote, Maine BEP ended up having to amend the proposed rule. Instead of mandating that 43% of new car sales for the 2027 model year be zero-emission EV, they had no choice but to push the rule’s implementation to the 2028 model year. Ultimately, their goal is to reach 82% of all vehicle sales by 2032.
While the particulars of the rule may have changed, let’s be real: A pig in a different shade of lipstick is still a pig. That’s the case here – regardless of when it would take effect, these climate activists are still poised to push their agenda on you, Maine’s consumers.
When Republican legislative leaders sent a letter to BEP board members last month asking them to reject this mandate, we outlined a host of problems that would result in limiting consumers from buying the vehicle they want. I’ll get to a few of those problems in a moment. But the reason Republicans are pushing back against this so hard is because we heard from you, the public.
The pandemic clearly showed us that an unchecked bureaucracy is detrimental to our society. Forcing you to purchase a certain kind of car by limiting your choices is no different; and 81% of the people who testified against this new rule during its public hearing agreed.
The adoption of EVs has slowed considerably, alarming both activists and automakers who expected the bubble to continue. What’s happened? Well, the demand for EVs by early adopters has already been met. Those who are left prefer cheaper gas-powered or hybrid vehicles for a variety of reasons. In fact, some Maine auto dealers told us that EVs have sat unsold on their lots for up to a year.
There are several reasons for this. First, Maine is a challenging environment when it comes to our rural geography and frigid temperatures, the latter of which can rob batteries of half their power when the thermometer hits zero. And since many of us drive long distances to work or shop, Mainers are naturally wary of the shorter range of EVs and a charging infrastructure with large gaps or deserts across the state.
Many people have also shared concerns that they simply can’t afford the higher prices of EVs or the related higher repair and insurance costs. And while electricity rates dropped this month, they’re still 79% higher than just two years ago. Mainers are struggling as is without forcing higher vehicle costs upon them.
I need to say that Republicans are not against EVs. I serve on the Transportation Committee and we realized some time ago that EVs are a growing part of Maine’s future. That’s why we decided to move away from gas taxes as the sole source of income for our highway budget. It is growing naturally, but not as fast as these activists want to force it upon us.
If BEP adopts this rule, the impact it will have on our consumers and auto dealers will be devastating. And that’s where another lesson we learned during the pandemic is valuable.
Scarcity in supply raises prices, and Mainers pay those prices. Demand for gas-powered vehicles will outstrip supply; and new and used vehicle prices will skyrocket as a result. You can’t fight the laws of economics.
Since Maine BEP had to delay their decision, you now have another chance to weigh in on this issue. Go to the Maine BEP’s rulemaking page to submit your own opinion, or email it to rulecomments.dep@maine.gov. You have from now until Feb. 5 to tell Maine BEP what you think; and I encourage you to make your voice known.
Again, this is Senator Brad Farrin of Somerset County. I hope you have a great weekend.
Sen. Brad Farrin represents the communities of District 3. He is the Senate Republican Lead for the Legislature’s Transportation Committee.
Maine Senate Republicans 
Thank you for your stance on the clean cars initiative. I am in total agreement with you that this is bad for maine. Everything about it is bad from the way it was brought to this point by so few people to the idea of forcing people once again to go along with hairbrained ideas that just won’t work in rural maine. I think these last few storms with bitter cold leaving people with electric cars that cannot meet their needs should be a clear warning of what everyone from Portland North will go through every winter. Not to mention we did not elect our officials to implement their ideas of what’s best for us, but to do the business of the people in the way they want it done. This should be on a ballot at the polls before it is even given serious consideration. We did not elect mom to tell us what’s best for us. We elected people to do our business the way we want it. Thank you for fighting to keep this type of socialist policy out of our state
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