WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) today launched a TV ad highlighting Senator Monty Mason’s decisive vote to keep Virginia aligned with California on the road to banning sales of new gas and diesel cars and trucks. This ad is part of AFPM’s issue campaign to raise awareness and build support for repealing the 2021 law that requires Virginia to enact California’s electric vehicle mandates and bans on sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles.
“Earlier this year, Governor Youngkin led an effort to decouple Virginia from California’s electric vehicle mandates and its even more extreme ban on sales of new gas cars and trucks,” AFPM explained. Legislation to repeal the 2021 law passed the House of Delegates, but Senator Mason cast the deciding vote in Senate Committee against this bill, keeping Virginia tied to California’s ban.
“Most Virginians are unaware that the Commonwealth is required, because of the 2021 law, to follow California’s vehicle regulations. When they find out about this, they are solidly opposed. In fact, 65% do not support Virginia’s choice to adopt California’s vehicle mandates and bans.
“Virginians need to know about the 2021 law and the ongoing effort to get it repealed so they can contact their current and prospective elected officials and urge them to be on the right side of this issue moving forward. If he hears from enough constituents, Senator Mason could change his vote and be part of the solution that keeps California vehicle bans out of Virginia for good.”
Senator Mason voted in favor of the 2021 legislation requiring Virginia to adopt California’s vehicle standards, which include the state’s electric vehicle sales mandates and ban on sales of new gasoline, diesel and flex fuel vehicles. As a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, Mason cast the deciding vote defeating legislation that would have repealed the 2021 law and stopped California’s vehicle mandates and bans from being enacted in Virginia. With the 2021 law still on the books, California’s electric vehicle sales mandate is set to phase in starting in January 2024, after which the sales of all new gas, diesel and flex fuel vehicles will be fully banned in the Commonwealth by 2035.
In addition to TV, AFPM is continuing in its efforts to reach Commonwealth residents on this issue through mailers, radio spots, digital display ads, text messages and telephone town halls.
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) is the leading trade association representing the makers of the fuels that keep us moving, the petrochemicals that are the essential building blocks for modern life, and the midstream companies that get our feedstocks and products where they need to go. We make the products that make life better, safer and more sustainable — we make progress.
