Gas-powered car ban to be implemented in US states

Some US states are now set to implement a ban on the sale of gas-powered vehicles. These regions revealed their plans to follow California's decision to take gasoline-powered units off the roads.

According to The New York Times, California made history last week when its regulators gave the "go ahead" signal for the scheme to phase out the sale of new gas-powered automobiles vehicles in the regions. It was noted that while other countries are trying to encourage consumers to buy electric cars by giving them incentives, California is going for a far more forceful approach.

The incentives are also being used to push vehicle manufacturers into producing more EVs than gas-powered versions. But in California, the state wants to completely eliminate non-electric vehicles as soon as possible, thus it has created a law for this.

On Thursday last week, the California Air Resources Board approved and signed an extensive plan that requires all new light trucks and passenger vehicles to be sold in the state should be electric or emission-free models by the year 2035.

Now, it appears that this California law on vehicles will also be applied to Virginia, but it will be based on the 2021 law that former governor Ralph Northam had signed into law related to emissions standards.

Fox Business reported that the state is on track to adopt the new Californian restrictions. Virginia will also follow the same scheme that 35% of the vehicles sold in the territory should be fossil-fuel-free.

"In 2021, Governor Northam and the far-left controlled General Assembly signed a law that binds Virginia to California's emission vehicle regulations, which, among other things, bans the sale of gas-powered cars in Virginia by 2035," the spokesperson for the office of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, said in a statement that was sent to Fox 5 DC.

He added, "The Attorney General is hopeful that the General Assembly repeals this law and discontinues any trend that makes Virginia more like California. Unelected California bureaucrats should not be dictating the will of Virginians."

Meanwhile, it was predicted that other states including Massachusetts and Washington are also following suit. They are likely to act in accordance with California's emissions rules as well.