Amp Up Your Advocacy with the NAM’s Help
Ever wondered how best to contact your members of Congress? Or invite them on a tour of your facility? The NAM’s advocacy division, which helps manufacturers express their priorities to D.C. decision-makers, recently released a new and important resource: a suite of toolkits for different advocacy activities, including facility tours and more.
Congressional contact: There is an art to contacting Congress, as the NAM’s advocacy team will tell you. Their “Engaging Congress” toolkit provides simple, easy to remember rules for all types of communication, as well as sample letters and phone messages.
- By email: A few key tips include using a clear subject line, making sure that you identify yourself as a constituent and providing strong facts and data. And don’t forget to make it personal—the congressional office should understand that you yourself are harmed (or benefitted) by the policy in question.
- By phone: The advice for phone calls is similar—make sure you identify yourself as a constituent and a manufacturer, and that you have a clear request for the congressional staffer answering your call. Personal details matter in this format as well.
Lastly, consider attending town halls or other events hosted by your members of Congress, where you can also voice your opinions and connect with their offices.
Facility visits: Another way to make an impact on your representatives is to invite them over to your place. Hosting a facility tour can seem daunting or complicated, but the NAM’s toolkit breaks it down into eight easy steps. This collection of advice from the experts includes the following:
- How to create a guest list, send invitations and coordinate with congressional office staff
- How to prepare for media participation and craft a CEO message
- How to organize the tour itself, from preparing the premises to greeting the lawmaker to providing safety equipment and more
- How to show the visitors around while dropping key talking points into the conversation
That’s only a snapshot of this helpful toolkit, which includes many hints that you may not ever have considered—such as designating a notetaker to join the tour and keep a record of it.
Become an ambassador: If you are interested in making advocacy one of your missions, consider becoming an NAM Ambassador. Ambassadors share their stories with the media and policymakers, take public positions on key manufacturing issues, publish op-eds, host elected officials at their facilities and much more.
Check it out: Explore the whole toolkit and learn how you can become an effective public advocate for your company, your industry and the American economy.
Climate Amendment on Track to Pass Senate
An international treaty now on course to clear the Senate “is the strongest enforceable international accord on greenhouse gases to which the U.S. has agreed to abide,” according to POLITICO Pro (subscription).
The background: The Kigali Amendment, advanced Wednesday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is a change to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which “banned various chemicals [hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs] that were depleting Earth’s ozone layer.”
- Negotiated in 2016 by the United Nations, the Kigali Amendment aims to phase down the global use of HFCs, popular refrigerant alternatives and potent greenhouse gases.
- It “is projected to avoid up to half a degree Celsius of warming by 2100, making it a key part of global goals to limit warming.”
- In late 2020, Congress passed legislation requiring the EPA to issue rules phasing down the use of HFCs by 85% by 2036, in keeping with the Kigali Amendment’s requirements.
Facilitating the next generation: “With ratification of the Kigali Amendment, the U.S. will join about 130 countries in a multi-decade plan to phase down the production and consumption of 18 highly polluting substances known as HFCs,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) said, according to POLITICO Pro.
- “The Kigali Amendment will facilitate the transition to the next generation of refrigerants. Our U.S. industry enjoys a strong competitive advantage in the production of successor chemicals that will replace HFCs. Approval of this treaty will ensure our companies have full and fair access to the markets of the other treaty parties.”
Next steps: Assuming all 50 Democrats vote for the treaty, final Senate ratification will require a minimum of 17 Republican votes to reach the required two-thirds majority.
Our take: The NAM applauded the Kigali Amendment’s passage, which it calls for in its climate change roadmap, “The Promise Ahead.”
- “We have been urging policymakers to support Kigali ratification and prove that smart policy can be a win for the economy and the environment,” said NAM Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Rachel Jones.
- “If we can finish getting this through the Senate, we will have set ourselves on a path to create up to 150,000 jobs in the United States and cut billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. This kind of win-win should be the model for approaching all of our environmental challenges.”
Production of Heavy-Duty Trucks Falls in 2022
In the midst of supply chain challenges, truckers say they need more new trucks to meet the current demand for shipping, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription).
Production delays: The production of heavy-duty trucks has slowed due to an ongoing parts shortage and a long backlog of orders.
- According to industry executives, the delays are preventing trucking companies from adding trucks and replacing old ones at a time when the demand for shipping is high.
Other challenges: The production delays have coincided with a truck driver shortage, high fuel prices and logistics problems associated with supply chain bottlenecks.
The forecast: Market researchers expect production of about 296,000 heavy-duty trucks in 2022. As recently as 2019, the industry produced 344,560 trucks.
Internet Providers Ramp Up Subsidized Broadband Plans
New plans from internet providers are part of the Biden administration’s effort to increase access to broadband and reach more users, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription).
What’s happening: “Twenty internet providers, including AT&T Inc. [and] Comcast Corp. … agreed to improve subsidized high-speed internet plans they offer to millions of unconnected households.”
- The move is part of the Affordable Connectivity Program that was launched as part of last year’s bipartisan infrastructure plan.
- The infrastructure plan allocated $14 billion to the program as part of the effort to bolster America’s broadband network.
The goal: The Affordable Connectivity Program has failed to reach most of its eligible subscribers because people most in need have no access to the internet and aren’t aware that they’re eligible for a major discount. An important part of the new plans is ensuring that they’re accessible to the most users.
- “Many of the companies, which cover more than 80% of the U.S. population, agreed Monday to either boost the internet speeds that they offer through the program or to cut their rates to $30 a month for low-income and other households that qualify.”
Who’s eligible: An estimated 48 million households are eligible for the subsidy. According to the Federal Communications Commission, about 11.5 million households have already signed up for the subsidy.
- The Biden administration has launched a new website, GetInternet.gov, to provide information to Americans about signing up for the subsidies.
The NAM’s view: The NAM has been a strong supporter of expanded access to broadband for years, citing its importance in the policy blueprint “Building to Win.”
NAM Pushes Back on New Emissions Standards
The Biden administration’s new fuel-economy standards are too aggressive and add conflicting mandates to on-the-books regulations, the NAM said Friday.
What’s going on: The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a proposal calling for a revision of current Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars and light-duty trucks—to a fleet average of 58 miles per gallon by 2032.
- The draft rules are a complement to regulations released “in April that are the strictest on record and push automakers to make the majority of their sales electric vehicles,” reports Auto Dealer Today.
Why it’s problematic: “Auto manufacturers have been making historic investments to ensure that electric vehicles will have a growing place on America’s roads,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “However, the NAM has concerns over the three different sets of standards governing light- and medium-duty vehicles. For instance, the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation on light- and medium-duty vehicles would require 67% of new manufactured vehicles to be battery electric by 2032 and is too aggressive.”
- Some of the rules that have been put forth recently by federal and state agencies conflict with one another, and some—particularly those released by the EPA—would increase the cost of both manufacturing and purchasing vehicles.
- “In addition, the federal government should not dictate the vehicle choices offered to consumers,” Timmons pointed out. “The administration should allow the market and consumers to grow the number of electric vehicles, rather than depending on a single technology to meet this goal.”
What can be done: “[T]hese regulations should be harmonized to create a single unified standard for vehicle emissions, so manufacturers do not have to navigate three often-conflicting targets, which raise costs for manufacturers and consumers,” Timmons continued.
What we’re doing: In June, the NAM and members of the NAM’s Council of Manufacturing Associations and Conference of State Manufacturing Associations launched Manufacturers for Sensible Regulations, a coalition aimed at addressing the negative effects of the multiple, often contradictory regulations being handed down by federal agencies.
Manufacturers to White House: Emissions Standards Adding Unnecessary Costs, May Stifle Innovation
Washington, D.C. – In response to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s release of new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement:
“Auto manufacturers have been making historic investments to ensure that electric vehicles will have a growing place on America’s roads. However, the NAM has concerns over the three different sets of standards governing light- and medium-duty vehicles. For instance, the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation on light- and medium-duty vehicles would require 67% of new manufactured vehicles to be battery electric by 2032 and is too aggressive.
“Federal and state agencies are promulgating competing rules, and the EPA’s rules, in particular, would make it costlier for manufacturers to make these vehicles and for consumers to purchase them. When you add the drastic need to build transmission lines to accommodate the demand for charging infrastructure and the challenge of obtaining critical minerals for batteries—many of which are extracted or processed in China—you create a scenario where an ambitious rule becomes a nearly impossible benchmark.
“Consumers and the industry need a more realistic path to reducing vehicle emissions. Federal and state agencies should draft rules that recognize the longer timeframe needed for our nation to build the charging infrastructure and a reliable supply chain for the critical minerals to make batteries to support more electric vehicles. Rules should also be structured to allow the industry additional time to make more electric vehicles available for consumers, and in the quantities needed to eventually achieve the administration’s goals. In addition, the federal government should not dictate the vehicle choices offered to consumers in meeting this goal. Plug-in hybrids, fuel cell electric vehicles and battery-electric cars can all help reduce vehicle emissions over time. The administration should allow the market and consumers to grow the number of electric vehicles, rather than depending on a single technology to meet this goal.
“Finally, these regulations should be harmonized to create a single unified standard for vehicle emissions, so manufacturers do not have to navigate three often-conflicting targets, which raise costs for manufacturers and consumers. The NAM looks forward to working with the administration to ensure vehicle standards meet consumer demand while providing manufacturers in the U.S. more opportunities to create jobs, develop new technologies and become even more globally competitive.”
Background: Recently, the NAM, members of the NAM’s Council of Manufacturing Associations and Conference of State Manufacturers Associations launched Manufacturers for Sensible Regulations, a coalition addressing the impact of the current regulatory onslaught coming from federal agencies.
According to the NAM’s Q2 2023 Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, more than 63% of manufacturers report spending more than 2,000 hours per year complying with federal regulations, while more than 17% of manufacturers report spending more than 10,000 hours. The NAM survey also highlighted that only 67% of manufacturers are positive about their own company’s outlook, the lowest since Q3 2019. It shows the consequences of regulations: If the regulatory burden on manufacturers decreased, 65% of manufacturers would purchase more capital equipment, and more than 46% would increase compensation.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.91 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 55% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.
Michigan Homebuilders Push Back on Air Quality Proposal
“Policy can’t be developed in a vacuum,” says Dawn Crandall, executive vice president of government relations for the Home Builders Association of Michigan. “People need to look at how one policy impacts that next thing. Everything is tied together.”
That’s Crandall’s message for the Environmental Protection Agency, as it considers a proposed air quality rule to restrict particles called PM2.5. While the regulations might not appear to impact the housing industry directly, they could prevent manufacturers from expanding facilities and creating jobs in Michigan—which does affect the housing market.
The concern: If manufacturers are unable to grow in the state or open new facilities, fewer people will need housing. That’s bad news for homebuilders.
- “If you put in these EPA regulations that are going to create a barrier for companies looking to move here, and then they decide they don’t want to, that’s going to impact Michigan’s ability to be an economic destination,” said Crandall.
- “And if you make it harder for businesses to employ employees, then they don’t need housing. That has a big impact on us.”
A shaky foundation: Michigan’s housing industry is still recovering from the significant downturn it experienced about 15 years ago.
- That slump was dramatic: according to Crandall, the number of permits filed in Michigan for single-family homes fell sharply from 54,721 in 2005 to around 15,000 two years later, bottoming out to about 6,900 in 2009.
- Although the industry has seen some recovery since then, new construction remains relatively low, and Crandall worries that shocks caused by the EPA’s proposed regulations could do further harm.
- “I think we’ve hit rock bottom, and we’re slowly coming out of it,” said Crandall. “But we’re only projecting 16,000 single-family permit builds this year—and anything that’s going to impact residential construction is not good for the state of Michigan.”
Another challenge: Ultimately, Crandall is concerned that the EPA’s proposed rule will simply add to a long list of challenges for homebuilders.
- “We’re already facing enough hurdles,” said Crandall. “There’s a lack of skilled workers who can do residential construction. Material costs peaked during COVID. We get a lot of our lumber from Canada, so these Canadian wildfires could have an impact. So if PM2.5 is going to affect economic development in our state, that’s going to have an impact on us, too.”
The big idea: “We’re all connected in some form or fashion,” said Crandall. “Michigan needs to grow our population, and we can’t do that if companies don’t bring people into our state who want to live, work and play here. We’re one big ecosystem.”
AV Advocates to Congress: Act on Self-Driving Cars
Regulatory inertia on self-driving cars is putting manufacturers in the U.S. at a disadvantage, but Congress can help by expanding automakers’ ability to test and ultimately sell the vehicles, industry advocates said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday, according to ABC News.
What’s going on: “Currently [automated vehicle] manufacturers can deploy a maximum of 2,500 self-driving vehicles for testing, provided they have permission from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. AV advocates have complained that the limits represent a bottleneck that is holding back the growth of the industry at a crucial time.”
What’s being requested: One of the bills considered during Wednesday’s markup is an updated version of a 2017 measure on AV regulations that passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
- AV advocates point to data that shows reports of accidents involving these cars are exaggerated and the cutting-edge safety technology can be more reliable than human drivers in avoiding crashes.
- The issue of liability in case of an accident, however, remains a major point of contention in legislative progress. “Each one of these [crashes] is still going to be subject to a plaintiff’s lawyer, an insurance company and a defense lawyer,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) said. “And until we’ve figured that out, this is just a science project.”
Safety data: An analysis of the first 1 million miles of AV use by Cruise AV—the self-driving vehicle unit of General Motors—showed the cars to have a significantly better safety record than human drivers, CEO Kyle Vogt said on an earnings call this week.
- There were 54% fewer collisions and 92% fewer crashes in which the AV was at fault, Vogt said.
The last word: “The expansion of AVs into our national transportation system is an opportunity to lead by enhancing safety on our roadways, improving transportation mobility and increasing efficient goods movement across our strained supply chains,” said NAM Director of Transportation Policy Ben Siegrist.
- “Manufacturers are on the cutting edge of vehicle technology research and development, and improving the federal regulatory landscape is a necessary step to grow the American AV industry into a global economic engine.”
Senate Moves to Onshore Uranium Production
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to create a Nuclear Fuel Security Program aimed at bolstering U.S. supplies of enriched uranium, according to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
What’s going on: On Thursday, the Senate voted 96–3 to include Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-WY) Nuclear Fuel Security Act amendment in next fiscal year’s National Defense Authorization Act.
- The “[a]mendment … directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to prioritize activities to increase domestic production of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for existing reactors and accelerate efforts to ensure the availability of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for advanced reactors,” according to the committee press release.
- The bipartisan measure was introduced in February by Sens. Barrasso, Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jim Risch (R-ID); in May, it was passed by voice vote.
Why it’s important: Most of the advanced nuclear reactor concepts set to come online in the next few years require HALEU—and Russia is the only viable commercial supplier, according to E&E News’ ENERGYWIRE (subscription).
- “Russia now supplies 24% of our enriched uranium imports,” Sen. Barrasso said before the committee on Thursday. “We spend nearly $1 billion each year on Russian uranium. Russia uses these revenues to fund its invasion of Ukraine. Here in America, we have the resources to fuel our own reactors. My amendment authorizes the Department of Energy to take the steps necessary to expand U.S. nuclear fuel production.”
The NAM’s role: The NAM has strongly advocated for the development of nuclear energy, which will play a critical role in U.S. energy security and decarbonization efforts.
- As NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons told Congress in June, “Nuclear energy can help the U.S. generate more clean energy, stabilize our grids and improve our energy security.”
A Renewables Industry Faces Headwinds
The Biden administration is hoping offshore wind farms will provide enough power for 10 million homes by the end of this decade—but energy companies are having trouble financing the projects, according to POLITICO.
What’s going on: “Up and down the Northeast—the center of the burgeoning [wind power] industry … energy companies have struggled to finance their projects, going hat in hand to governors and utility regulators asking for more money so they can start building the turbines they have already promised to deliver.”
- Many consumers concerned about already increasing energy costs are wary of more taxpayer funds going to such projects—but without additional government funds, many current wind projects may not get built at all.
The big picture: “Offshore wind takes a combination of state and federal green lights to work. … Federal, state and local permits all have to be secured to make the projects a reality, which gives opponents numerous chances to stall or kill projects.”
- Thus far, federal regulators have approved just three offshore wind projects nationally—underlining the dire need for permitting reform, which the NAM has long called for.
- Meanwhile, “Only seven offshore wind turbines are producing power and just two of the larger projects are truly under construction,” according to POLITICO.
States struggle: Wind-power projects in New Jersey and Massachusetts are facing financial hurdles, with the costs for one project increasing 30% since approval two years ago.
- Geopolitics and the larger economy have weighed on U.S. wind power, too. “Inflation is up—the cost of steel has soared since the pandemic—interest rates are higher and the labor market is tighter. Paradoxically, the war in Ukraine made clear how important domestic energy is while at the same time driving up the costs to produce it.”
The NAM says: “Manufacturers depend on access to reliable and affordable energy, which is why the NAM strongly supports reforms that would foster transparent, streamlined and timely federal regulatory processes,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Economic Policy Brandon Farris.
- “Our antiquated permitting system is driving up construction costs and has the potential to reduce energy security. The NAM will continue to fight for common-sense permitting reforms that expedite the development of many energy projects, including renewables.”