WASHINGTON — California will implement a drastic plan on Thursday to ban the sale of new gasoline cars by 2035. .
“This is a huge deal,” said Margo Orge, an electric vehicle expert who led the Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation emissions program under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ‘ said. “California will be the only government in the world to mandate zero-emission vehicles. Unique.”
Issued by the California Air Resources Board, the rule requires that by 2035, 100% of all new vehicles sold in the state be free of fossil fuel emissions, a major contributor to global warming. To do. This is up from 12% today. It sets an interim goal requiring 35% of new passenger vehicles sold in the state to produce zero emissions by 2026. It will reach 68% by 2030.
Regulation is important not only because California is the largest automobile market in the United States, but also because there are more than a dozen other states that typically follow California’s lead in setting their own vehicle emissions standards.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement: “The climate crisis is solvable if we focus on the large-scale, bold steps needed to stem the tide of carbon pollution.
California’s actions come in addition to the broad new climate legislation President Biden signed into law last week. The law invests his $370 billion in spending on clean energy programs and tax credits. This is the biggest step the federal government has taken to combat climate change. The legislation is projected to allow the US to cut emissions by 40% from her 2005 levels over this decade. Still, if the world is to avoid the most catastrophic and deadly impacts of climate change, it will reduce U.S. emissions by 2050, a goal climate scientists say must be met by all major economies. is not sufficient to eliminate
To bridge the gap, White House officials have vowed to combine the bill with new regulations, including those on automobile tailpipe emissions. It said aggressive state policies would also be needed to reduce emissions.
Experts say California’s new rule could rank with Washington law as one of the most important climate change policies in the world, both in its severity and scope, and could significantly reduce the country’s carbon footprint. He said it could help reduce The new rules are also expected to influence new policies in Washington and around the world to promote electric vehicles and reduce vehicle pollution.
At least a dozen other states may adopt California’s new zero-emission vehicle mandates relatively soon. Another five states that follow California’s extensive vehicle pollution reduction program are expected to adopt regulations in a year or so. If these states do this, restrictions on the sale of gasoline vehicles will apply to about one-third of the US car market.
Emissions from gasoline vehicles will have a major impact on tackling climate change, as they are the country’s largest source of greenhouse gas pollution that drives global warming.
John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major U.S. and foreign automakers, said it was “extremely difficult” to meet California’s new electric vehicle sales obligations. “Whether these requirements are realistic or achievable is directly related to external factors such as inflation, charging and fuel infrastructure, supply chains, labor force, availability and pricing of critical minerals, and ongoing semiconductor shortages. We do,” Bozella said in an email.
He said automakers would like to see more electric vehicles on the road, but to address issues such as the ability to mine key minerals such as lithium and cobalt in the U.S., and the affordability of electric vehicles. said it urged states and federal governments to do more: equitable access to fast charging.
Governments in Canada, the United Kingdom, and at least nine other European countries, including France, Spain and Denmark, have set targets to phase out sales of new petrol-powered vehicles between 2030 and 2040. rule.
“This regulation will set a global high-water mark for accelerating the transition to electric vehicles,” said Drew Kodjak, executive director of the research institute International Clean Transport Council.
In Washington last year, President Biden signed an executive order calling on the government to electrify half of all cars sold in the United States by 2030, but the order is not legally binding. there is no.
Mr. Biden is also seeking to enact federal policies to further expand the use of electric vehicles in the country. The new climate spending bill includes his $14 billion tax incentives for buyers of new and used electric vehicles. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency reinstated and slightly tightened Obama-era fuel economy rules abandoned by the Trump administration. must be achieved.
The country’s regulations aren’t as ambitious as California’s, which goes into effect this week, but it was the Biden administration that allowed California to pursue ambitious policies. It restored the Clean Air Act exemption that gives California the legal power to set automobile pollution and mileage limits. Regulations tougher than federal standards, strong climate policies canceled by former President Donald J. Trump.
It is in its power that California can enact new rules. When California’s rule takes effect, it’s expected to influence new federal standards that the EPA plans to introduce next year, further encouraging automakers to build and sell more electric vehicles.
But the legal backlash against these plans is already fierce.
Attorneys general from 17 Republican-led states have sued to revoke California’s waiver that invalidates the new policy. The case will be heard in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, considered the second most powerful court in the nation after the Supreme Court. Oral arguments have not yet been scheduled.