Plans due to be voted by the state this week require that by 2035, all new cars sold in California must be zero-emission vehicles, as the nation’s largest economy propels a transition away from fossil fuels.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will discuss proposals this week that will formalise the goals established by Governor Gavin Newsom and perhaps encourage other US states to follow suit.
The plans, which board member Daniel Sperling previously told CNN he was “99.9 per cent” sure would be enacted, also include gradual stages requiring that more than a third of cars sold in the state in 2026 and more than two-thirds by 2030 be zero-emission vehicles.
California has the largest market in the country with more than 40 million consumers. Because businesses cannot afford to lose out, regulations there has an impact on manufacturers’ output plans across the nation and beyond. As a result, California can effectively establish national norms.
The probable decision on Thursday follows the signing last week of a climate law by US President Joe Biden, which allocates hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives for clean energy initiatives.
As the former president of the United States, Donald Trump pulled the country out of the Paris Climate Accord and undid what many environmentalists saw as already meagre progress in reducing the emissions of fossil fuels that cause global warming, Biden and his Democratic Party are scrambling to regain the climate policy ground they believe was lost under his administration.
Authorities from all over the world, particularly in Europe, have recently focused on the polluting vehicle industry.
(with inputs from agencies)
