Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Newsom Moves to Ban Sale of New Gas-Powered Cars in California
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
September 23, 2020

Share

California will halt sales of new gasoline-powered passenger cars and trucks by 2035, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday, a move he says will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 35% in the nation’s most populous state.

The proposed rule would not ban people from owning gas-powered cars or selling them on the used car market. But it would end the sales of all new gasoline-powered passenger cars and trucks in the state of nearly 40 million people.

“Pull away from the gas pumps,” Newsom said. “Let us no longer be victims of geopolitical dictators that manipulate global supply chains and global markets.”

California and the roughly dozen states that follow its lead on auto emissions standards make up a significant part of the U.S. auto market, giving the day’s move huge potential impact for the U.S. automobile industry as well as for long-term efforts against pollution and climate change, which is driven by fossil-fuel emissions. It also is likely to meet opposition from President Donald Trump, who wants to roll back tougher Obama-era auto emissions standards and is battling California to force it to comply.

California already has rules mandating a certain percentage of new car sales must be electric or zero-emission vehicles. This rule, if implemented, would make California the first U.S. state with a plan to phase them out completely.

At least 15 other countries have already made similar commitments, including Germany, France and Norway.

Newsom’s order directs the California Air Resources Board to develop and approve regulations to meet the 2035 deadline. He also ordered them to make a rule requiring all medium and heavy-duty trucks be 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2045 “where feasible.”

In this July 19, 2019 file photo, a Tesla vehicle charges at a Tesla Supercharger site in Charlotte, N.C. Tesla owners can now buy insurance policies from the electric car company in what may be an essential step toward it selling driverless vehicles. The company says it’s now selling policies in California and will go nationwide at an undisclosed date. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

Fracking Is a Technique That Allows Energy Companies to Extract Huge Volumes of Oil and Gas

Newsom also directed state agencies to speed up development of charging stations across the state and called on the Legislature to eliminate new fracking licenses by 2024.

Fracking is a technique that allows energy companies to extract huge volumes of oil and gas from shale rock deep underground. It involves injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals into rock. Fracking opponents say the chemicals involved threaten water supplies and public health.

Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, called Newsom’s order “a big step” but said it “provided rhetoric rather than real action on the other critical half of the climate problem — California’s dirty oil production.”

“Newsom can’t claim climate leadership while handing out permits to oil companies to drill and frack,” she said. “He has the power to protect Californians from oil industry pollution, and he needs to use it, not pass the buck.”

California has a goal of relying 100% on clean, renewable energy by 2045. Gasoline and diesel-powered cars and trucks are the biggest impediment to reaching that goal as they account for more than half of the state’s carbon pollution.

The order comes as massive wildfires have burned a record 5,600 square miles (14,500 square kilometers) in California this year. Experts say the size and intensity of the fires are aided by warmer temperatures and years of drought brought on by climate change.

DON'T MISS

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

DON'T MISS

Musk Gives All Federal Workers 48 Hours to Explain What They Did Last Week

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Suspends 2 Players, Removes Another Amid Gambling Investigation

DON'T MISS

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

DON'T MISS

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

DON'T MISS

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

DON'T MISS

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

DON'T MISS

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

DON'T MISS

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

UP NEXT

Voletta Wallace, Notorious B.I.G.’s Mother and Keeper of His Legacy, Dies at 78

UP NEXT

Should Fossil Fuel Companies Be Forced to Pay for Los Angeles Wildfire Losses?

UP NEXT

Bullard Teacher Arrested for Inappropriate Behavior With a Minor, Principal Says

UP NEXT

Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as LGBTQ+, Survey Finds

UP NEXT

Fed Audit of CA High-Speed Rail Begins. $4B in Funding at Stake.

UP NEXT

California Lawmakers Scramble Again to Fix ‘Lemon’ Vehicle Law

UP NEXT

California Fire Captain Found Stabbed to Death in Home

UP NEXT

Arctic Blast Causes Massive Pileups, Power Outages Across East Coast

UP NEXT

‘A Step Backwards’: How Federal Threats to DEI Impact CA Schools

UP NEXT

Struggling Forever 21 Plans to Close 200 Stores in Possible 2nd Bankruptcy

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

5 hours ago

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

5 hours ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

12 hours ago

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

12 hours ago

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

12 hours ago

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

12 hours ago

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

12 hours ago

Trump-Putin Summit Preparations Are Underway, Russia Says

12 hours ago

Warren Buffett Offers Trump Some Advice While Celebrating Berkshire’s Success

12 hours ago

Hungarians Will Decide Whether Ukraine Can Join the European Union, Orbán Says

12 hours ago

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

ROME — Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pn...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

5 hours ago

Musk Gives All Federal Workers 48 Hours to Explain What They Did Last Week

5 hours ago

Fresno State Suspends 2 Players, Removes Another Amid Gambling Investigation

5 hours ago

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

5 hours ago

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

12 hours ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

12 hours ago

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

12 hours ago

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend