Saving The Automobile Isn’t Just About Cars

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It’s so much deeper than just some gasoline and oil.

Recently the EPA has crossed a line, putting millions of jobs in jeopardy and actively attacking the car community. Of course, this sort of thing is not new to the EPA, however, in the past, they haven’t been able to get very far with ridiculous policies such as this. In this time in which our society is simply trying to recover from the recent pandemic, others have taken the opportunity to manipulate the broken system and line their pockets. Thankfully, due to the internet, it is easier than ever for automotive influencers to speak up against the ludicrous actions of the EPA and encourage others to do so as well.

Find out what Nevada is doing to try to ruin the hobby here.

Evan Shanks is a popular YouTuber and car builder with over 849,000 subscribers on YouTube, in a recent video created to address the EPA he outlined why exactly the EPA needs to back down and what we can do to help further the cause of saving our beloved modded cars. First of all, he starts by explaining what the EPA wants, the EPA is pushing legislation that would make it illegal to convert a streetcar into a dedicated race car. Although you may not want to do that, it doesn’t mean that it won’t affect you. Many of the parts that we put on our cars can be labeled “for off-road use only” meaning only for a track. Usually, enthusiasts will put these on their cars to give them a slight performance advantage as well as extend the customization of their vehicles. However, if these parts are banned it would lead to millions of jobs being lost, this seems very obvious to most people but the EPA doesn’t take logic into account when enforcing restrictions on the rest of us.

Another unfortunate consequence of this push is that this would also create a trickle-down effect that would make prices for other performance parts skyrocket and in turn destroying more jobs in the process. However this is not the main focus of the video, what concerns him, as it does for all of us, is the fact that they are trying to control our most sacred passion.

Car enthusiasts, such as myself, love our cars. It may sound cliche, but we have true deep emotional connections with our automobiles. In Evan’s case cars helped him overcome a potentially fatal addiction as well as his battle with suicide and depression. Like many enthusiasts, Shanks’s passion was inspired by video games such as Need For Speed. After many years of suffering from depression, he developed a terrible addiction to Adderall leading to several near-overdoses. One day he had taken far too many pills and began thinking he was going to have a heart attack due to his extremely increased heart rate. He decided to get in his car and drive himself to the hospital.

Somewhere down the road he noticed that his heart rate had slowed down, his mind was clear, and he was finally at peace. He realized that driving had relaxed him so much that it was gradually reducing his stress levels which led to him being able to ride out the storm. Passing the hospital, Evan turned down a road and began filming the experience with a go pro that had been affixed inside of his car. Eventually, he was able to come down from the high and his vehicle became his new passion.

From then on Evan Shanks used driving as a supplement for the drug and slowly but surely fighting his addiction in the best way he could. Eventually, this strategy paid off, with Evan now being free from the shackles of addiction as well as having become extremely successful in his career as an automotive influencer. According to Evan, if the EPA had its way that car would have been illegal.

Honestly, as touching as this video is, the EPA doesn’t care. Another point that Evan did not bring up is the fact that automotive manufacturers such as GM or Ford would heavily benefit from this policy. These companies understand car enthusiasts won’t stop loving cars just becau
se they can’t modify them. So, they’ll be forced to buy the newest performance car every year if they want to go fast. Nobody is saying that these companies for sure have something to do with this, however, those big businesses have a lot to gain here while us enthusiasts will only suffer. This is why we need to be more open about our passion, speak up against this ridiculous law. Car enthusiasts only make up a small percentage of the population which is exactly why we need to make our voices heard so that more people listen.

Currently, our best option for fighting for our beloved machines is to be vocal. While it isn’t a perfect solution, one way to get involved is through RPM act, this n would effectively nullify the EPA’s proposal and cement our passion for modifying our cars as a right. One of the best things I’ve seen come out of the RPM Act proposal is getting information, newsletters, and information about contact congress, which can be useful for other initiatives to save our cars. While this all sounds well and good, we need to support both the RPM act as well as the companies helping to further its journey to becoming law or the other side will win. The EPA does not have the best interest of either you or the planet in mind, they only care about power, money, and controlling what you do with your passion.