(by DNYUZ) – California is expected to launch its sweeping plan Thursday to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, a groundbreaking move that could have major effects on the effort to fight climate change and accelerate a global transition to electric vehicles
“This is huge,” said Margo Oge, an electric vehicle expert who ran the Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation emissions program under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “California will now be the only government in the world to mandate zero-emission vehicles. It’s unique.”
The rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board, will require 100 percent of all new cars sold in the state by 2035 to be free of emissions from the primary warming fossil fuels of the planet, more than the current 12 percent. It sets interim goals that require 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 to produce zero emissions. This would increase to 68 percent by 2030.
The restrictions are important because not only is California the largest auto market in the United States, but more than a dozen states tend to follow California’s lead when setting their own auto emissions standards.
“The climate crisis can be solved if we focus on the big, bold steps needed to stem the tide of carbon pollution,” Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said in a statement.
California’s action comes on top of an expansive new climate law that President Biden signed into law last week. The law will invest $370 billion in spending and tax credits on clean energy programs, the largest action the federal government has ever taken to combat climate change. Enactment of this law is expected to help the United States reduce its emissions by 40 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. Still, it won’t be enough to eliminate U.S. emissions by 2050, a goal climate scientists say must be met by all major economies if the world is to avoid the most catastrophic impacts and killers of climate change. Read the full article >
