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Proposed Clean Cars rule leaves dealerships stuck in the middle - without a seat at the table

GMC/Facebook

Minnesota car dealerships are stuck right in the middle.

On the one hand, they're in favor of the new emissions standards being proposed by the MPCA's Clean Cars Minnesota rule.

Dwayne Haapenen is the general manager of Kolar Chevrolet Buick GMC, and he knows people value our clean air and water.  But he also says there's not a large market demand for electric vehicles up here.  He says people want vehicles that will start at -30°  - preferable all-wheel drive - and pull a camper/boat/snowmobile trailer.

Despite Fresh Energy's assertions that the public wouldn't have to do anything; that the action steps are geared toward manufacturers, not consumers, dealerships fall somewhere in the middle.

Haapenen says not all manufacturers even make EV and hybrid models available to dealerships in less-populated areas (like the Midwest) and he's troubled that dealerships aren't being given a seat at the table for these discussions on the state level. 

Lisa Johnson started her broadcast career anchoring the television news at her high school and spinning country music at KWWK/KOLM Radio in Rochester, Minnesota. She was a reporter and news anchor at KTHI in Fargo, ND (not to mention the host of a children's program called "Lisa's Lane") and a radio reporter and anchor in Moorhead, Bismarck, Wahpeton and Fergus Falls.Since 1991, she has hosted Northland Morning on KUMD. One of the best parts of her job includes "paying it forward" by mentoring upcoming journalists and broadcasters on the student news team that helps produce Northland Morning. She also loves introducing the different people she meets in her job to one another, helping to forge new "community connections" and partnerships.Lisa has amassed a book collection weighing over two tons, and she enjoys reading, photography, volunteering with Animal Allies Humane Society and fantasizing about farmland. She goes to bed at 8pm, long before her daughter, two cats, or three dogs.
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