The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has signed a decree-law by which the state decrees the date from which cars with a combustion engine cannot be sold in its territory. An ambitious step forward that seeks to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable forms of mobility.
According to the governor in a press conference: “This is the most shocking step our state can take to combat climate change. For too many decades, we have allowed cars to pollute the air our children and families breathe. Our vehicles shouldn’t make wildfires worse and cause smoky air. Cars should not melt glaciers or raise sea levels, threatening our precious beaches and coastlines.”
Record heatwaves. Record wildfires.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 24, 2020
Climate change is real. The time for action is now.
By 2035 every new car sold in CA will be an emission free vehicle. https://t.co/RPWOKWn1bJ
At the moment, this regulation only includes the sale of new cars. So the sales of second-hand models will not be affected. Nor, of course, the circulation of these vehicles that, at the moment, do not have an expiration date.
To know if this will also affect hybrids and plug-in hybrids since the governor has indicated that from 2035 all new cars sold will be emission-free. Something that hybrids do not meet.
The state has also set a deadline for the sale of industrial vehicles, such as trucks, which may not exceed 2045. A considerably longer-term in a sector that sees the arrival of the first commercial proposals 10 years after the start of the marketing of the first modern electric cars.
It is an advertisement with a strong symbolic component since California is the leading automobile market in the United States. But at the same time, it does not have much weight in the manufacture of these vehicles, but it is betting on embracing the manufacture of electric cars. This means that its legislation will allow you to get more out of your bet for the future.
A bet that includes greater investment in renewable energies that currently produce 30% of the state’s electricity, and which they hope to reach 100% in 2045. The date in which cars with a combustion engine will be minimal and the electric ones will be powered by clean energy. Something that will undoubtedly have an enormous impact on the figures for polluting emissions that have drowned major cities for decades.