Morning traffic runs along a freeway on September 19, 2019, in Los Angeles, California.
Mike Blake | Reuters
California clean-air regulators unveiled a plan this week that would boost sales of electric and zero-emission vehicles and eventually shut down new gasoline-fueled vehicles by 2035, in a bid to combat the state’s greenhouse gas pollution.
The proposal, if enacted by the California Air Resources Board, would require 35% of new passenger car sales by 2026 to be battery-powered or hydrogen-powered, and 100% of sales to be net-zero emissions in less than a decade. It added that zero-emission sales must increase by 68% by 2030.
Transforming the transportation sector into clean energy is a key component of California’s plan to combat climate change, as cars, trucks and other vehicles represent about 40% of the state’s pollution.
Electric vehicle sales in the state grew 12.4% of total sales last year, a jump from 7.8% in the previous year.
The board is expected to vote on the proposal in August. At least 15 states, including New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, have adopted car standards under the previous Clean-Car rule in California.
The plan is to govt. Gavin followed Newsom’s executive order to sell cars with internal combustion engines within 15 years to produce all new car sales zero emissions by 2035.
This rule does not prohibit people from owning or selling gas vehicles in the used market.
“Californians are still experiencing the harmful effects of smog emissions and the effects of climate change, which is expected to worsen in the coming decades. It is important and necessary to adopt the proposed ACC II regulations,” the state plan said.
Newsom, signing the executive order, said the plan could reduce state emissions from cars by more than 35% and that zero-emissions vehicles would “almost certainly” be cheaper than gas-powered vehicles when regulations began.
“Based on 30 years of work to electrify light-duty vehicles in California, the market is clearly ready for a massive transformation,” the plan says.
California, which is battling increasing wildfires and droughts as temperatures rise, aims to become 100% renewable energy by 2045.
Some environmental groups have called on the board to set more stringent targets for advancing the transition to electric vehicles, arguing that the state should impose a rule to achieve 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030, five years before the current proposal.
Scott Hochberg, attorney for the Center for Transportation at the Institute for Climate Law on Biodiversity, said in a statement: “Time is running out in front of the Earth because we know it disappears in the rear view mirror.
“To protect humans and the planet, California needs to rid our roads of tailpipe pollution as soon as possible,” Hochberg said.