New York Implements Plan To Ban Gas-Powered Cars By 2035

Last month, Connecting the Dots reported California policymakers voted to ban the sale of gas-powered automobiles by 2035. That article noted other states could follow and, indeed, now one has.

As Bloomberg reported last week, Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) announced that her state will make good on a plan she had tentatively announced last year to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035.

New York is one of several states that have adopted California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) program under Section 177 of the Clean Air Act. That program authorized California to set its own emissions standards and allows other states to follow suit. Although Governor Hochul signed the measure requiring the sale of zero emissions vehicles by 2035 last year, the Clean Air Act required the state to wait until California finalized its own analogous law to begin the regulatory process to implement the zero-emission measure. Governor Hochul’s announcement starts that regulatory process.

Like California, New York’s rules would apply to all new cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs. They would create annual targets for the share of zero-emission vehicles auto makers must sell in the state, starting at 35 percent in 2026, increasing to 68 percent by 2030, and finally 100 percent in 2035.