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Your Business Advocate Since 1931 2i.1'i JUL. / 8 PH 12 : 26 

EXEWT/' 

The Honorable Ray LaHood	

The Honorable Lisa Jackson 

Secretary	

Administrator 

Department of Transportation	

Environmental Protection Agency 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE	1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW 

Washington, DC 20590	

Washington, DC 20004 

Dear Secretary LaHood and Administrator Jackson: 

Today jobs, the economy and energy security are on the minds of every American. The Montana 

Chamber of Commerce is focused on pro-active policies to address these critical issues and grow 

Montana and the Northwest region toward a more secure future. Transportation is a critical component 

of our economic vitality and given that your agencies are now developing national fuel economy 

standards for 2017-2025, I wanted to share our views. 

Safe, efficient and reliable transportation impacts each individual, family and business in my city. Jobs in 

Montana and the Northwest region are all tied to cost effective transportation. With the recent 

increase in gas prices and turmoil in the Middle East, reducing fuel use and dependence on foreign oil 

are on all our minds. We support your efforts to improve fuel economy by laying out a long-term 

program, but encourage you to carefully consider a balanced and thoughtful approach. 

We encourage NHTSA and EPA to adopt a single, national fuel economy standard that considers 

America's needs for increased fuel economy while preserving the choices for families and businesses to 

meet their transportation needs without sacrificing affordability, safety, or jobs. NHTSA and EPA have 

already set strong standards for 2012-2016 that raise the fleet average by 40% to 35 miles per gallon. 

Looking forward, technology improvements should continue to support increases in fuel economy and 

greenhouse gas standards. However, we recognize that overreaching regulations can place a significant 

cost burden on individuals, families and businesses in Montana. 

It is important that standards for 2017-2025 support a broad range of consumer needs in terms of utility 

and function. Americans need a range of vehicles to meet their family and business needs. Large 

families require automobiles with sufficient passenger space, including room for multiple child-safety 

seats in the back. Small businesses need vans and utility vehicles to conduct commerce. Agriculture 

depends on pickups, as do the construction industry and local trades. 

900 Gibbon St. • P.O. Box 1730 • Helena, Montana 59624 • (406) 442-2405 • Fax (406) 442-2409 • info@montanachamber.com
Our region's businesses all share the need for affordable transportation. The next phase of fuel 

economy standards should not pick winners and losers, but should support a variety of technologies and 

fuel diversity to preserve affordability. If fuel economy standards increase too quickly, resulting in more 

expensive vehicles, many of our region's consumers can be expected to hold on to their older vehicles 

longer and defer buying a new car, which could put jobs across the country at risk and delay compliance 

with federal air quality standards. Affordability, customer choice and job preservation is as much as 

priority as raising fuel economy. 

As the Montana Chamber of Commerce, we think every day about ways to promote job creation and 

security for our region. We encourage you to carefully balance the factors that impact sensible fuel 

economy standards, including consumer choice, affordability and the economic concerns that weigh on 

our nation's fragile recovery. 

Webb Scott Brown 

President/CEO 

Montana Chamber of Commerce 

(406) 442-2405
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