Gov. Gavin Newsom signs executive order that will require new cars sold in the state to be electric or otherwise zero-emissions.
By Dino Grandoni, Faiz Siddiqui and Brady Dennis, Washington Post
September 23, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
California, the world’s fifth-largest economy and the state that created U.S. car culture, will stop selling gasoline-powered automobiles within 15 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Wednesday.
Facing its record-breaking wildfire season and heat waves, made worse by climate change, California is moving to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, Newsom said.
“For too many decades, we have allowed cars to pollute the air that our children and families breathe,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday. “You deserve to have a car that doesn’t give your kids asthma. Our cars shouldn’t make wildfires worse — and create more days filled with smoky air.”
The state’s clean air regulator, the California Air Resources Board, will develop regulations that ensure every new passenger car sold in the state is electric or is otherwise zero-emissions by 2035. Automakers would have until 2045 to make sure all medium- and heavy-duty trucks and other vehicles were zero-emissions, as well.
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