California authorities are considering passing text that would ban the sale of new fuel-powered vehicles by 2035 in the US state, which is leading the nation’s efforts to reach its “zero emissions” goal.
The text, which will be discussed by the California Air Quality Board, outlines the legal framework for environmental targets set in September 2020 by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, which he is expected to encourage other states to follow.
And US news network CNN quoted Air Quality Council member Daniel Sperling as saying the chances of the text being approved were “99.9%.”
The proposed measure would phase out the sale of new gasoline or diesel vehicles.
The first phase of the proposed regulation calls for a third of new cars sold in the state from 2026 to be “emission-free,” meaning cars that run on electricity or hydrogen, as well as some types of cars with hybrid engines. By 2030, this percentage will rise to two-thirds.
Sperling said the measure, when approved, would be “a huge thing.”
“This is the most important step taken by the California Air Quality Authority in the last 30 years. This is important not only for California, but for the whole country and for the whole world, ”he added.
California, with over 40 million people, is the largest market in the United States, and the state’s regulatory standards affect production throughout the United States.
In January 2021, General Motors announced that it would stop producing vehicles that emit pollutants by 2035.
In recent years, many countries, especially in Europe, have tried to reduce car pollution.
In this context, the UK, Singapore and Israel committed to ban the sale of new petrol or diesel cars by 2030, while Norway’s goal was more ambitious as the Scandinavian country decided to implement the ban from 2025.
At the end of June, the 27 member states of the European Union agreed to ban the sale of new thermal vehicles, including petrol and diesel, from 2035 as part of efforts to achieve carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050.
