PRI, SEMA Applaud Repeal of Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding
PRI and SEMA are celebrating the Trump Administration's decision to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards, dubious policy positions that empowered regulators at the federal and state levels to override consumer choices on vehicles. Among those abuses were federal- and state-led efforts to ban internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and impose nationwide electric vehicle (EV) mandates.
- By following through with its intent to repeal the GHG endangerment finding, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is unleashing innovation in a significant segment of the automotive aftermarket and motorsports industries that are entirely dependent on ICE technology. Those segments are now free to rely on free-market solutions to our emissions challenges.
"This is a tremendous decision by the EPA to course-correct after nearly two decades of abuses by previous administrations at the federal and state levels, and instead return sanity to our nation’s environmental policies," said SEMA/PRI CEO Mike Spagnola. "It was with great trepidation that SEMA/PRI watched our nation's leaders demonize and ban the very motor vehicles that serve as the bedrock upon which the American people--families, small businesses, and automotive enthusiasts--rely to live their best, most prosperous lives. It was even more infuriating to watch these policymakers brazenly justify their actions with a dubious policy position that now rightly goes away, to be replaced with a common-sense, free-market view of what drives our nation’s prosperity."
BACKGROUND
- The EPA's decision will directly impact federal new car requirements and does not impact existing emissions laws established by the Clean Air Act. Instead, it will ensure that automakers produce vehicles driven by consumer demand, rather than greenhouse gas limits, the latter of which has significantly influenced the models of vehicles available to the American people since 2009. This policy shift will directly impact the range of new vehicle choices that exist in the coming years.
- In comments responding to the EPA's rulemaking for Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2025–0194 — Reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards, SEMA/PRI identified economic and cultural considerations for re-establishing a foundation of vehicle choice in the U.S. automotive market, which, because of recent GHG emissions policies, have experienced an erosion of affordability and innovation.
- According to the PRI Economic Impact Study, motorsports generates $69.2 billion in U.S. economic activity and supports more than 318,000 jobs nationwide.
- Most of the businesses in the aftermarket and motorsports industries are small businesses, but there is nothing small about the innovation and ingenuity they show every day. The products that aftermarket businesses manufacture, sell, and distribute to automotive enthusiasts worldwide are a testament to our nation's engineering superiority.
- The PRI Show in Indianapolis is the premier global gathering for motorsports, convening manufacturers, retailers, race teams, tracks, sanctioning bodies, promoters and media under one roof. The 2025 PRI Show was one of the largest in nearly two decades, with more than 1,060 exhibitors, including 161 first-time participants. The PRI Show returns to Indianapolis Dec. 10-12, 2026.
- SEMA/PRI is not anti-EV, nor will it ever be. Rather, PRI and SEMA are passionate about protecting the freedom of businesses to deliver the next groundbreaking product, and the American consumer's freedom to choose whether that product fits their needs and lifestyle. Such innovation can only be delivered through technology-neutral government policy and by allowing the marketplace to drive demand for these products.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock | Rost9
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