California To Ban New Gas-Powered Cars

Kat Schuster, Patch
August 24, 2022

CALIFORNIA — The Golden State is expected Thursday to officially ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 — one of the most aggressive actions taken to tackle climate change in the nation.

Gov. Gavin Newsom first signed the executive order in 2020 to prohibit such sales. The mandate will require all new vehicles sold in the Golden State to have zero emissions and be free of fossil fuel emissions.

"The climate crisis is solvable if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to stem the tide of carbon pollution," Newsom said in a statement.

The California Air Resources Board will require 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 to produce zero emissions. By 2030, that number will climb to 68 percent.

California's transportation sector has contributed to at least 50 percent of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere, contributing to rising climate problems and hampering air quality, the governor previously said. By eliminating gas-powered vehicles, total greenhouse gas emissions would be limited by more than a third, significantly reducing tailpipe pollution.

"This is huge," Margo Oge, an electric vehicles expert who headed the Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation emissions program under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told the New York Times. "California will now be the only government in the world that mandates zero-emission vehicles. It is unique."

California is home to the largest auto market in the nation, but at least a dozen other states could follow California's lead, the Times reported.

"I don't know of any other state in this country that's been more forceful and forthright in establishing an anchor and a consciousness around climate change," Newsom said in 2020 when the order was signed.

The ban is likely to draw criticism from a number of automobile manufacturers and Republican leaders in the nation, who previously pushed back on the state's strict fuel economy policies.

The Golden State's ban comes on the heels of a new climate law signed by President Joe Biden last week. The largest action ever taken by the federal government, the law will inject $370 billion in spending and tax credits into clean energy programs. By 2030, it is expected to slash emissions 40 percent below the levels seen in 2005.

These actions will not be enough to completely eliminate emissions by 2050 in the U.S., but White House officials have vowed to couple the bill with other regulations aimed at curbing emissions such as a new tailpipe restriction.

"It's the action we must take if we're serious about leaving this planet better off for future generations," Newsom said.

Within 12 years, gas-vehicle manufacturers in the state will either have to make the switch to zero-emissions or be forced to cease operations in California; however, the sale of used cars will still be permitted.

"You can still keep your internal combustion engine car," Newsom said. "You can still trade and transfer those cars — we're not taking anything away."

And the executive order doesn't just aim to de-carbonize the vehicle market. Newsom plans to prioritize green tech, an industry that he says has already outpaced fossil fuel jobs in California.

The state is home to some 34 manufacturers of electric vehicles and facilitates 50 percent of all electric vehicle purchases in the nation. California alone has put 725,000 zero-emission cars on the road, Newsom said.

"No state comes close," he said. "This is the next big global industry, and California wants to dominate it."

Manufacturers that already produce cars allowed under Newsom's 2035 order include battery-powered electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell-run cars.

he attorneys general of 17 Republican states have sued to revoke the California waiver, which would dismantle the policy, the Times reported.

California State Senator Andreas Borgeas stated his opposition to the move in 2020, tweeting then that it was part of the governor's "radical agenda."

“With virtually no infrastructure to support the wholistic eradication of gas vehicles, and the threat of rolling electrical blackouts, the Governor has unilaterally decided to move forward without consultation from the Legislature,” Borgeas said in a statement.