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California bans sales of new gasoline cars


State officials said on Thursday they will vote to introduce a sweeping plan to limit and eventually ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars, state officials said, a move the governor said State description is the beginning of the end for the internal combustion engine.

The new policy, detailed Wednesday morning in a press conference, is widely expected to accelerate the global transition to electric vehicles. Not only is California the largest auto market in the United States, but more than a dozen other states typically follow California’s lead when it comes to setting their own auto emissions standards.

If those states follow, and most are expected to adopt similar rules, the restrictions would apply to about a third of the U.S. auto market.

“This is very powerful,” said Margo Oge, an electric vehicle expert who led the Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation emissions program under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. great. As other states roll out their own versions of these policies, “they drive the market and drive innovation,” she said.

The rule issued by the California Air Resources Board would require all new cars sold in the state by 2035 not to emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The rule also sets interim targets, requiring that 35 percent of new passenger cars sold by 2026 produce zero emissions. That requirement will increase to 68% by 2030.

Transportation is the nation’s leading source of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, called the new rule “one of the most important steps to getting rid of the air duct as we know it.”

“Our kids will act like a rotary phone or change the channel on the television,” Governor Newsom said in an interview.

John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major U.S. and foreign automakers, says automakers want to see more electric vehicles on the road, but the task is of California would be “extremely difficult” to meet.

“Whether these requirements are realistic or achievable is directly related to external factors such as inflation, fuel and charging infrastructure, supply chains, labor,” said Bozzella. , critical mineral availability and prices, and ongoing semiconductor shortages,” Bozzella said by email.

President Trump has battled California’s authority under the Clean Air Act to set his own rules on auto pollution, and there’s still a chance a future president could resist full implementation. enough new rules. Additionally, a group of attorneys from Republican states filed a lawsuit challenging California’s ability to set its own pollution rules.

Critics of policies promoting the use of electric vehicles are quick to point out that sticker prices for electric vehicles are still much higher than for similar gasoline-powered vehicles. And Ann Bluntzer, executive director of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute at Texas Christian University, said in a statement that the transition to electric vehicles could put a strain on the grid.

“Where does that increased power come from?” Ms. Bluntzer said. “Fossil fuels? Wind? Solar system? Hydroelectricity?”

California’s ban comes as gasoline prices continue to fall, which this week fell to a national average of $3.90 per gallon. Still, Mr Newsom said, the fact that prices rose after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underscored the urgency to “move away from oil dictators and depend on the oil market.”

The new policy in California follows a new climate law extension signed by President Biden last week. The act will invest $370 billion in spending and tax credits on clean energy programs, the largest action the federal government has taken to combat climate change. The law is expected to help the US cut emissions 40% lower than 2005 at the end of this decade.

However, that law alone will not be enough to eliminate US emissions by 2050, a goal climate scientists say countries must achieve if the world is to avoid catastrophic impacts and the deadliest of climate change.

To help bridge the gap, White House officials have announced additional policies, such as new regulations on exhaust emissions, but they also say individual states must take further action. .

Experts say the new California regulation, with its ability to be achieved, could rival the one signed by Mr Biden last week as one of the world’s most important climate change policies.

In California, the new regulation will cut greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles more than 50% by 2040 than would be expected without the policy, according to state regulators. That would eliminate 395 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in that time period, or the equivalent of burning 915 million barrels of oil, according to Liane Randolph, president of the California Air Resources Council.

That effect could also extend to 16 other states, large and small. That’s because those states traditionally follow California’s lead.

California will now send its final rule to the Environmental Protection Agency to request the waiver, which the Biden administration has signaled it is likely to grant. An agency spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Because of the way the waivers work, California must first get EPA approval for its own rules before other states can enforce similar restrictions, Oge said. Several states – including New York, Washington and Massachusetts – already have similar laws in the works, and many more, following California’s lead, are expected to consider similar regulations next year. or longer.

The governments of Canada, the UK and at least nine other European countries – including France, Spain and Denmark – have set a target of phasing out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles between 2030 and 2040. But no Is there any country that has a specific regulation or regulation like California. rule.

“This regulation will set a global high for the rapid transition to electric vehicles,” said Drew Kodjak, executive director of the International Council on Clean Transport, a research organization.

In Washington, Mr. Biden last year signed an executive order calling on the government to work to ensure that half of the cars sold in the United States is electricity by 2030, up from 6% today, although the order has no legally binding effect.

Mr. Biden has also sought to enact federal policies to scale up the nation’s use of electric vehicles. Recent climate bill includes $7,500 in rebates for new electric vehicle buyers, though automakers will have to assemble their cars in North America and provide their batteries from friendly countries to qualify for full credit. California officials said that provision would combine with $10 billion in a state program to make cars more affordable and build charging stations and other electric vehicle infrastructure. especially in low-income communities.

Some automakers say their strategy is in line with California’s goal of promoting zero-emission vehicles.

General Motors said it is still reviewing the regulation, but the company also has a goal of selling only electric vehicles by 2035. “General Motors and California share a common vision for an all-electric future,” said Elizabeth Winter, developer. GM spokesman said.

Ford’s chief sustainability officer, Bob Holycross, said the company plans to invest more than $50 billion in electric vehicles and batteries by 2026 and said the rule would “set an example for the United States.” A spokesperson for Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Fiat, Dodge and other brands, said the company plans to introduce 25 new electric vehicle models by 2030 to support California’s goals.

In a statement, Honda called the California regulation “an ambitious but important milestone” but warned that achieving the goal will require several steps, including building a domestic supply chain so more vehicles can be sold. than may qualify for the federal tax credit.

Toyota, one of the world’s largest automakers, did not comment on the new California regulation but this week said in a statement that it acknowledges “California’s leadership in climate policies and its authority in setting vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act.” During the Trump administration, Toyota sued to prevent California from setting stricter rules than the federal government.

To enforce her rule, Randolph said California will fine automakers up to $20,000 for each vehicle that doesn’t meet production targets. The state could also propose new amendments to revise sales targets if the market doesn’t react like state leaders, said Jennifer Gress, head of sustainable transportation for the California aviation board. hope.

State officials say about 16 percent of cars sold in California today are electric, up from 12.4 percent last year.

“We realize that not everyone is going to buy a new, expensive car,” says Randolph. “But we also know that prices will fall in the future.”

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency restore and strengthen a little an Obama-era fuel economy rule that has been pushed aside by the Trump administration. It requires passenger vehicles to travel 55 miles per gallon by 2026, from just under 40 miles per gallon today.

That national regulation is much less ambitious than California’s new one, but the Biden administration has allowed California to push ahead with its ambitious policy: It restores California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act , which former President Donald J. Trump paused.

The waiver dates back to 1970, when Los Angeles was choking on smog and Congress was enacting the landmark Clean Air Act. California is allowed to set stricter emissions standards than the federal government, but must provide a compelling reason for the exemption. In 1977, other states were allowed to adopt California’s stricter standards.

The Biden administration’s reinstatement of the waiver is what kept California going with this week’s new rule. Once in effect, California’s regulations are expected to affect a new federal standard that the EPA is expected to introduce next year, encouraging automakers to build and sell cars. more electric cars.

There has been fierce legal opposition to those plans.

The attorney generals of 17 Republican-led states sued to revoke California’s exemption, which would overturn the state’s new policy. Patrick Morrisey, attorney general for West Virginia and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, called California’s waiver of “bias” a “violation of the equal sovereignty of the states.”

The case, which will be heard before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Courts, is considered the nation’s second most powerful bench after the Supreme Court. Oral debates are yet to be scheduled.



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