It has been over a decade since the federal government bailed out the auto industry at a cost to taxpayers of more than $10 billion, but the transfer of tax dollars to this powerful sector of our economy has not even come close to ending.
Over the past several years, untold billions of federal, state, and local tax dollars have been spent in the form of tax credits, subsidies, and other investments to prop up the auto industry’s expansion into electric vehicles. And just two months ago, the Biden administration offered another $12 billion to automakers, ensuring the spigot remains wide open.
Of course, the auto industry says the taxpayer funding that pads its bottom line serves the greater good, intimating that the money for electric vehicle tax credits and charging stations is necessary for protecting the environment and America’s energy future.
Maybe American taxpayers eventually will get something meaningful for these outlays; maybe they won’t. But automakers have a responsibility to put public safety above corporate profits, especially when those profits are inextricably linked to the generosity of the average Jane and Joe.
Unfortunately, however, a handful of automakers don’t seem to have gotten that memo. They recently sent alarm bells ringing throughout the public safety community by removing AM radios from their new-model vehicles.
Yes, AM radio is a source of entertainment for tens of millions of people each week, but far more importantly, it serves as the backbone of America’s National Public Warning System and Emergency Alert System. Because we often lose power, and cell networks become overloaded during emergencies, AM radio is frequently the last line of defense in ensuring communication with the public. This was the case during the recent Maui wildfires, where power was out and virtually all the island’s cell towers went down. Radio was the only way to provide the public with lifesaving information.
Earlier this year, every former head of FEMA over the previous four administrations wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and to Congress, noting that removing AM radios from cars would present a real threat to public safety. Current FEMA leadership has warned that if the trend by some automakers continues, “millions of Americans” could lose access to “lifesaving” information during emergencies.
State and local officials, including first responders on the ground, have repeatedly warned that the auto industry is putting the public in jeopardy by removing AM radio from vehicles. As Sheriff Shaun Golden, the public safety official who spearheaded the emergency response to Hurricane Sandy, put it, “This issue isn’t about a select few automakers taking away a source of entertainment from car buyers. It’s about how, if left unchecked, the removal of AM radio will undermine the nation’s public warning system and emergency alert system that public safety officials at every level of government depend on to do their jobs.”
These public safety concerns have united Congress to act to ensure that the automakers put public safety above corporate profits.
A bipartisan coalition led by Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has coalesced behind legislation that would require the auto industry to reverse course and keep AM radio, ensuring the integrity of our public safety infrastructure remains intact. Their bill, the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, is moving quickly through the House and Senate.
While the bill is endorsed widely throughout the public safety community, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the powerful lobbying arm of the auto industry, disagrees with America’s public safety experts. In a recent snarky blog post, the Alliance begged Congress to reject this bill with “my dog ate my homework”-level reasoning.
First, the Alliance argued that the legislation is unnecessary for protecting public safety even though FEMA and almost every state emergency management official under the sun has said otherwise. The federal government has spent decades building out the National Public Warning System, and the experts clearly believe that without AM, the system will no longer work as designed.
Then, the Alliance claimed that maintaining AM radios would cost too much even though the auto industry has enjoyed tens of billions in taxpayer subsidies.
The reality is that the Congressional Budget Office has found there is minimal cost associated with keeping AM radios in cars. In fact, most of the Alliance’s automaker members are already opting to keep AM radios in their models, which suggests that the cost associated with doing so is in fact minimal.
It is amusing how the Alliance can make the case that EV charging stations (which it wants D.C. to pay for) are important for America’s safety and future, yet it just as easily dismisses the need to protect something like our public warning infrastructure for the same reasons. Talk about inconsistency. But that is D.C. lobbying for you.
Here’s hoping that Congress says enough is enough and prevents corporate boardroom profits from supplanting public safety. Because if there’s one thing money can’t buy, it’s that.