California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday banning the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in the state by 2035, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.
According to the order, by that year, all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California are required to be zero-emission vehicles.
The governor's office said in a statement that the transportation sector is responsible for more than half of all of California’s carbon pollution, 80% of smog-forming pollution and 95% of toxic diesel emissions.
Calling the move the "most impactful step" to fight climate change, Newsom said cars have polluted the air that American children and families breathe.
The executive order will not prevent Californians from owning gas-powered cars or selling them in the used car market.
The move is expected to achieve more than a 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an 80% improvement in oxides of nitrogen emissions from cars statewide, according to the statement.