Thank you for the
opportunity to comment. My name is Melissa Traugh and I am here
today representing the Central Valley Business Federation or
BizFed, a grassroots alliance of over 75 businesses and
organizations, representing 30,000 diverse employers and over
400,000 employees in the Central Valley.
At BizFed we
believe a thriving economy will help solve many of our area's
entrenched challenges, and we want to express our concern today for
the proposed policies that will increase already rising costs for
gas, food and things we need every single day!
In the coming
months, you will consider the scenarios and included rules that
will limit consumer choice by banning the purchase of traditional
cars. By CARB’s own admission the 2035 ban does not reflect a
market feasibility study, which really means it will further hurt
families and businesses to make ends meet.
These regulations
will hurt the families and businesses we represent right in the
pocketbook. We will lose 85,000 jobs that put food on the table
every day.
Employment and
jobs will be affected and economic output will be stifled when so
many are already struggling financially. The real life impacts on
everyday people will be detrimental, especially to the people in
the Central Valley employed by the energy and agriculture
industries.
Furthermore, the
CARB analysis shows that this regulation will have nearly $90
billion in negative impacts on everything from personal incomes to
the care and repair of road infrastructure.
We ask that you
consider these everyday people and urge you to balance our climate
goals with the continually-growing cost of living nightmare
families and businesses are fighting everyday.