New Gasoline Vehicle Sales Will Be Banned in California

California will approve a plan to ban sales of gas-powered cars by 2035. The vote hailed as a victory that could guide other states comes two years after an executive order for zero-emission vehicles

State officials have announced that California regulators will vote on Thursday to implement a comprehensive plan to restrict and eventually ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars. This move, which the state governor has described as the beginning of the end for the internal combustion engine, will be voted on by regulators in California on Thursday.

It is widely anticipated that the new strategy, which will be detailed in a news conference on Wednesday morning, will hasten the shift toward electric vehicles on a global scale. Not only is California the most critical automobile market in the United States, but more than a dozen states often look to California as a model for regulating the emissions from their own vehicles.

Suppose those states go through with their plans, and it is anticipated that the majority of them would enact rules very similar to those proposed. In that case, the limitations will apply to approximately one-third of the automobile market in the United States.

A specialist on electric vehicles named Margo Oge, who oversaw the transportation emissions program at the Environmental Protection Agency under the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, described this development as "massive." According to her, "they will drive the market, and they will drive innovation" as other governments adopt their own unique versions of these rules and put them into effect.

The California Air Resources Board issued the rule that stipulates that all newly manufactured vehicles sold in the state must be free of emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide by the year 2035. The rule also establishes intermediate standards, such as the requirement that 35 percent of newly sold passenger vehicles must have zero emissions by the year 2026. By the year 2030, that threshold will have increased to 68 percent.

The emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming are caused mainly by the transportation sector in the United States.

The new regulation has been described as "one of the most critical steps toward the elimination of the tailpipe as we know it" by the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom.

In an interview, Governor Newsom stated that the state's future generation would behave as though they are using a rotary phone or changing the station on television.

John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents large automakers from the United States and other countries, stated that automakers wanted to see more electric vehicles on the roads but that California's mandates would be "extremely challenging" to meet. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation represents both domestic and international automakers.

A future president may continue the fight that President Trump started against California's authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own rules regulating automobile pollution. There is also the possibility that another president will continue the fight against the full implementation of the new regulations. In addition, a coalition of Republican state attorneys general has joined together to challenge California's authority to determine its own pollution regulations by bringing legal action.

Those opposed to measures that promote the quick adoption of electric vehicles point out that the base price of an electric vehicle is still significantly more than that of a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle. And Ann Bluntzer, the executive director of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute at Texas Christian University, warned in a statement that the transition to electric vehicles could burden the nation's electrical systems that supply electricity to homes and businesses.

This week, the national average price of a gallon of gasoline dropped to $3.90, which coincides with the announcement that California will implement its ban. Nevertheless, Mr. Newsom stated that prices skyrocketed after Russia invaded Ukraine and highlighted the urgent need to "transition away from petro-dictators and dependent on the oil markets."

The comprehensive new climate law that was signed into law by President Biden just last week inspired the new policy in California. As the most significant step the federal government has made to tackle climate change, the law would invest $370 billion in spending and tax credits on clean energy programs. It is anticipated that the Act will assist the United States in cutting its emissions to a level that is 40 percent below that of 2005 by the end of this decade.

However, this rule by itself will not be sufficient to eradicate emissions in the United States by the year 2050, which is the objective that climate scientists say countries must meet for the world to avoid the most catastrophic and lethal effects of climate change.

White House officials have promised further initiatives, such as new rules on tailpipe emissions, to assist reduce the gap, but they have also said that individual states must take greater action to help close the gap.

According to the opinions of various experts, the newly enacted regulation in California has the potential to have a global impact, which may put it in the same league as the bill that Mr. Biden signed into law just the week before.

According to the state regulators, implementing the new regulation in California will result in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles of more than fifty percent (50%) in the year 2040 compared to the projected levels in the absence of the policy. According to Liane Randolph, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, this results in a reduction of 395 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the period mentioned above. This is the same as avoiding the burning of 915 million barrels of oil.

This influence may possibly potentially expand to 16 additional states, including both large and minor ones. This is because those states have, historically speaking, followed California's lead.

Now, the state of California will submit its final regulation to the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) to request the waiver the Biden administration has indicated it will most likely give. A spokesperson for the organization did not answer a request for a response from the agency.

The governments of Canada, Britain, and at least nine other European countries, including France, Spain, and Denmark, have committed to ending sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles between the years 2030 and 2040 as part of their long-term plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. On the other hand, none of them have actual mandates or laws like the one that California has.

The previous year, Mr. Biden signed an executive order in Washington, DC, that called for the government to try to ensure that half of all vehicles sold in the United States by the year 2030 are electric, which is an increase from the current percentage of 6%; however, the order does not have any binding legal force.

Additionally, Mr. Biden has worked toward the passage of government legislation that would increase the number of electric vehicles used across the country. The recently passed climate bill provides rebates of up to $7,500 to individuals who purchase new electric vehicles. However, in order for automakers to be eligible for the full credit, they will need to assemble their vehicles in North America and source their batteries from countries that are friendly to the United States. Officials in the state of California have stated that this provision will be combined with $10 billion in a state program to reduce the cost of autos and create charging stations and other electric vehicle infrastructure, with a particular focus on low-income communities.

Several automakers have stated that their plans are in line with the objective of the state of California to increase the sales of automobiles that produce no emissions.

General Motors stated that the rule was still under consideration but that the business also aims to sell only electric vehicles by the year 2035. Elizabeth Winter, a spokeswoman for General Motors, stated that the company and the state of California "share a vision of an all-electric future." Bob Holycross, chief sustainability officer for Ford, stated that the company planned to invest more than $50 billion in electric vehicles and batteries by 2026 and that the rule would "set an example for the United States."

Stellantis, the corporation that owns Chrysler, Fiat, Dodge, and a number of other brands, intends to introduce 25 new electric cars by the year 2030, according to a spokesman for the firm. This will assist support California's aims.

In a statement, Honda called California's rule "an ambitious but important milestone" but cautioned that reaching the goal would require several steps, including building out domestic supply chains so that more vehicles could qualify for the federal tax credit.

In a statement released this week, Toyota, one of the largest automakers in the world, acknowledged California's "leadership in climate policies and its authority to set vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act." Toyota did not comment on California's new rule, but it did say that it acknowledged California's "leadership in climate policies and its authority to set vehicle emissions standards." During the Trump administration, Toyota had sued to block California from setting stricter rules than the federal government.

Ms. Randolph stated that for California to uphold its law, the state would fine automobile manufacturers up to $20,000 for each vehicle that did not meet its production targets. Jennifer Gress, who heads up the sustainable transportation division of the California air board, said that if the market doesn't react as state leaders hope, the state might also submit new amendments modifying the sales targets.

According to officials from the state, almost 16 percent of vehicles being sold in California today are electric vehicles, which is an increase from the 12.4 percent recorded the previous year.

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency restored and slightly strengthened an Obama-era fuel economy rule that the Trump administration had set aside. It mandates that passenger cars achieve a fuel economy of 55 miles per gallon by 2026, up from under 40 miles per gallon.

That national regulation is much less ambitious than California's new rule, but it was the Biden administration that allowed California to press forward with its ambitious policy: It restored California's waiver under the Clean Air Act, which former President Donald J. Trump had halted.

California was allowed to set tougher emissions standards than the federal government, but had to provide a compelling reason to be granted a waiver. The waiver dated from 1970, when Los Angeles was choking with smog, and Congress enacted the landmark Clean Air Act. In 1977, other states were allowed to adopt California's stricter standards.

The Biden administration's reinstatement of the waiver enabled California to move forward with its new rule this week. Once in place, California's regulations are expected to influence a new federal standard that the E.P.A. expects to introduce next year, further encouraging automakers to build and sell more electric vehicles.

                       California to ban new gas engine car sales by 2035