California to ban gas cars by 2035

California on Thursday is expected to implement its plan, announced nearly two years ago, to ban the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-powered cars in the state by 2035.

The step comes on the heels of President Biden signing into law a sweeping federal climate change bill last week, which commits $370 billion to clean energy spending and tax credits. California's ban was first outlined in an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2020. Now the California Air Resources Board (CARB) votes to put it into effect.

“The climate crisis is solvable if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to stem the tide of carbon pollution,” Newsom said Wednesday. Regulators have spent the past two years working out the details of what Newsom termed “the action we must take if we’re serious about leaving this planet better off for future generations.”

“This is huge,” Margo Oge, an electric vehicles expert, told the New York Times. Oge headed the Environmental Protection Agency’s vehicle emissions program under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “California will now be the only government in the world that mandates zero-emission vehicles. It is unique.”

Many other states follow California's lead on matters of vehicle emissions, and 12 of them are expected to announce a similar policy soon; another five may take the step within the next year. And California itself is the largest automotive market in the nation.

Vehicle emissions are the nation's top source of greenhouse gases.

California now mandates that 12% of vehicles sold in the state be electrified. The new requirements will move that target to 35% by 2026, 68% by 2030 and 100% by 2035.

The ban on sales is not, however, an outright ban on internal combustion. People can continue driving gas-fueled vehicles and purchasing used ones after 2035. The plan also allows for one-fifth of sales after 2035 to be plug-in hybrids that can run on batteries and gas.