Days ago, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined a slew of state attorneys general in sending a letter to automotive leaders urging them to stop removing AM radios from their vehicles.

In commenting on the letter, AG Cameron said, “Eliminating AM radio could harm Kentuckians who need it to stay safe and informed about what’s happening in the Commonwealth.” He’s right, and nowhere is that truer than here in Western Kentucky.

When President Joe Biden and Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul toured the damage that emanated from the deadly tornadoes our communities recently experienced, emergency response leaders made one thing clear to them: radio was a principal lifesaver during these natural disasters.

The storms knocked out most of Western Kentucky’s electricity, and while many residents didn’t have Internet, cell service, or TV signals, they did have working AM radios.

Thank God for it. Post-storm news coverage and testimonies from Kentucky residents all echoed the same point: the information, warnings, and detailed coverage provided by local stations saved countless lives and prevented untold numbers of people from remaining in the dark during the worst of times.

“When everyone else is gone, we are still here,” one local station owner told Kentucky media. “We are community stewards. It is our job to connect the dots for people, to help them find the help they will need.”

The federal government understands this. FEMA, which is charged by law to ensure the federal government can communicate with the public under all conditions, has made AM radio the backbone of the National Public Warning System. FEMA has spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars hardening these AM radio stations — because it knows that AM radio was built to withstand even the worst natural disasters, and protecting these stations is important to public safety.

Every FEMA administrator spanning the Clinton through Trump administrations has raised public safety concerns with automakers removing AM radios. In fact, current FEMA leadership recently noted that millions of Americans would lose access to emergency information if the industry continues doing this. The safety of many Western Kentuckians would be put at risk.

However, as part of their efforts to digitize their cars, many electric vehicle makers have begun removing the AM radio from their car dashes. They are doing this because their EV motors interfere with the AM signal, making an unpleasant screeching sound. While some carmakers have already proven the issue is easily fixable, others have felt it not worth the financial cost to do so.

Attorney General Cameron has every right to worry about what AM radio’s removal could mean for Kentuckians’ safety moving forward, as does FEMA and the various state newspaper editorial boards who have already sounded concerns. I agree with them and will do everything in my power to ensure Kentucky’s elected officials and emergency response operators retain all the tools they need to protect us during the next natural disaster.

However, although this matter is vital to Kentucky, there’s only so much that its local and state public officials can do to address it. Kentucky needs its representatives in Congress to step in here. This is a federal issue, and we don’t have the authority to formulate a public policy solution of our own.

Congress continues to provide these electric vehicle makers (many of which are some of the wealthiest companies in the world) billions of dollars in federal subsidies and tax incentives, so it has every right to ask that they use a small fraction of those funds to protect the country’s national security interests.

Thankfully, many members have already begun doing just this.

A vast congressional coalition encompassing Kentucky Rep. Harold Rogers, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Rep JD Vance (R-Ohio), and over 125 other representatives recently teamed up to introduce the AM for Every Vehicle Act. The legislation will ensure that these carmakers — all of which continue receiving state and federal financial support — remain mindful of the government’s critical infrastructure needs when designing their current and future vehicle models.

As we can expect more violent weather in the coming months, here’s hoping that our lawmakers in Washington, D.C. pass this bill in short order. Heaven knows that we here in Western Kentucky will be needing the help.

— Mike Wilson represents the 32nd District in the Kentucky State Senate and is Senate Majority Whip. He lives in Bowling Green.