California bans gasoline car sales by 2035

The State of California’s measure is aimed at phasing out thermal vehicles in favor of electric cars.

California has chosen to ban the sale of new gasoline cars by 2035. “The climate crisis can be resolved if we focus on the important and bold steps needed to stem carbon pollution,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

The historic transition to electric vehicles will be gradual over several years, with a target of 35% new non-fossil-fuel vehicles by 2026, a target of 51% by 2028, 68% by 2030, and a target of 100% by 2035.

“It’s monumental,” said Judge Daniel Sperling, a member of the California Air Resource Board (CARB). This is the most important thing CARB has done in the last 30 years. This is important not only for California, but also for the country and the world. ”

This comes on the heels of US President Joe Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest environmental investment in American history. The IRA allocates nearly $400 million to the fight against climate change, but as Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone pointed out after Biden formalized the law, this is just one step in what remains a very long way to avoid a global climate catastrophe: “Let’s not ask ourselves if this bill is ambitious enough to avoid the climate crisis. He’s not. The climate crisis is not a broken leg. It’s not enough to find a good doctor who will put a cast on you for six weeks, and then everything goes back to normal. There is no solution to the climate crisis”.

California’s ban on the sale of gasoline cars marks another step in what must be a multidimensional effort to tackle the climate crisis. Activists cheered the news on Wednesday. “Start thinking now,” author Bill McKibben wrote on Twitter, “if you buy a new gasoline car, will it have any resale value? ”.

The New York Times notes that at least 12 more states could adopt the new regulations soon, and five are expected to do so in the next year. If that happens, restrictions on gasoline cars would apply to about one-third of the U.S. auto market.