California Governor Gavin Newsom signs an executive order banning the sale of new gasoline cars in … [+]
California, the biggest buyer of vehicles in the U.S., is banning sales of gasoline- and diesel-engine cars and trucks in the state by 2035 with an executive order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. It’s the single-most aggressive such action ever taken by either a U.S. state or nation to fight carbon pollution that’s fueling higher temperatures and wildfires in California and persistent air-quality problems from automotive exhaust.
“To get to a carbon-free economy by 2045 we can’t get there without transportation,” Newsom said in a webcast today. “We are marking a new course … with a firm goal that by 2035 we will eliminate in the state of California sales of internal combustion engines.”
While new carbon-fueled vehicles can’t be purchased after the law takes effect, “you can keep your current car or buy a used car,” he said. “We’re not taking anything away.”
The state is already the biggest market for electric vehicles in the U.S., with about 750,000 on the road today. California also has 34 companies making or planning to produce electric vehicles, most notably Palo Alto-based Tesla. The combined value of this company’s “half a trillion dollars,” Newsom said.
(This is a developing story. Updates to follow.)
