A new report was recently published by labor and environmental leaders, and it found that building clean vehicle technology directly supports 288,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs in the U.S. These jobs belong to more than 1,200 factories and engineering facilities in a total of 48 states, where American workers help create new technology that improves the fuel economy of today’s most innovative vehicles.

In the top five states for creating new cars – Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky – development of cleaner vehicle technologies helps to support nearly 160,000 manufacturing jobs.

This report clearly proves that clean vehicle and fuel economy standards can and do create jobs, rebuild manufacturing and protect the environment at the same time.

President Trump and his polluter allies in Congress are constantly attacking critical health and climate protections. It is becoming more and more clear that Americans overwhelmingly want cleaner, more efficient cars.

Regardless of the size of the vehicle they’re looking to purchase, more efficient vehicles just make more sense. Not only do the standards create jobs, they also reduce carbon pollution, reduce our reliance on foreign oil and, most importantly to a lot of families, they save them a considerable amount at the pump.

The facts just don’t lie. Spurring the creation of newer innovations in the arena of fuel-efficient automobiles makes sense for Maine citizens’ wallets and health. We should be encouraging companies to continue to move forward on fuel efficiency, not take away essential regulations that are put in place to lower our carbon impact.

Jessica Shvakhman

Portland