Informative Speech

Motor racing requires three things; A vehicle, a ruthless driver, and abiding by dumb laws. Race Cars, Pulling trucks, Drift cars, and F1 cars are all in danger of extinction. How do we avoid it? The answer is simple; hope Elon Musk is right about electric cars not taking over for another 10 years. Sadly the end of motorsports is being pushed by a government agency called the EPA. Not only will I explain the boring tendencies and history of the EPA, but I will also explain how the EPA is affecting the future of motorsports and modified cars.

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The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is a government agency that protects the environment by implementing rules and regulations for industrial companies and individuals. In motorsport culture, the EPA is also known as a business that ruins anything fun. According to Origins of the EPA, on July 9, 1970, the EPA was founded after President Nixon signed an executive order establishing the EPA as a government agency. Since being founded, Businesses have not limited the EPA but the EPA has  limited them. Gasoline and diesel engines are constantly being redesigned to fit the new EPA requirements. The EPA restricts factories and automotive footprints,  reviews chemicals, cleans contaminated land, and improves water quality. 

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The EPA, since the 70s, has been protecting the environment from toxic gasses and dangerous material by implementing laws and regulations, some being specific to reduce emissions, called emissions standards. "Emissions standards refer to legislated limits on the concentrations of several compounds that can be released into the air" ("Emissions Standards"). Emission Standards are set to make all individuals and businesses meet standards and regulations to ensure safety for people's living conditions and the environment. What did the EPA do to regulate pollution? They introduced the Clean Air Act in 1970 to require ambient air-quality standards. The EPA was strong, but later, the EPA did not think the Clean Air Act was enough, so they pushed for more strict inspections, such as smog tests. However, racing teams and individuals modified the emissions control modules to increase power since they restricted the engine. According to Scott Evans, an author at Motortrend News, "The EPA's solution to this problem is to ban these kinds of parts for streetcars, including ones modified for legitimate competition… EPA wants to give itself the unquestionable power to put aftermarket manufacturers out of business, thus eliminating the supply of parts which could be used inappropriately.”

The EPA has done its job at helping the environment and ensuring that all emissions are controlled, and improving air and water quality. While the EPA’s laws make it harder to make my truck louder, their regulations have proven to be beneficial and are effective at keeping emissions to a minimum. The EPA, however, has angered many car and truck enthusiasts, including SEMA, an organization, who has now filed lawsuits against several regulations by initiating the RPM act. Let us buy, let us sell, let us build race cars is SEMA’s goal in the RPM act, yet there is little hope to keep combustion engines on the road any longer. Thought sooner electric cars we will drive. 

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