Proposed bill would make all new cars sold in California Emission Free by 2040

A bill proposed last week by San Francisco Assemblyman Phil Ting (AB 1745) would require that every new car sold in California by 2040 would have to be a zero-emission vehicle. The bill’s goal is in line with Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to have 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles in the state by 2025. Ting even calls the proposed bill the Clean Cars 2040 Act, which he hopes will bring vehicle emissions down further. Ting said the following in a statement,

We’re at an inflection point: We’ve got to address the harmful emissions that cause climate change. Achieving the goal of electrification of transportation is crucial for the health of our people and the planet. Vehicles run on fossil fuels are responsible for nearly 40 percent of California’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill defines zero-emission vehicles as vehicles that cannot produce exhaust emissions of any pollutant or greenhouse gas under any operational mode or condition. AB 1745 only applies to passenger vehicles and exempts commercial vehicles over 10,000 pounds. Vehicles owned by people moving into California from other states are also exempt. In 2016, 2.1 million new cars were sold and just 1.9 percent of the sales were from zero-emission vehicles. The bill is bold and it is going to be interesting to see if it passes.

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