CA’s Gov. Newsom signs order banning gas-powered car sales by 2035—NM could be next

On Wednesday, California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he would bar the sale of new gas-powered vehicles starting in 2035 via executive order. 

“Transportation represents more than 50% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions, Newsom said on Wednesday before signing the executive order,” reports the Washington Examiner. 

“Newsom said the move to bar internal combustion engines is an economic opportunity for California, which alone has 34 manufacturers of electric cars.” 

The extreme move means California’s residents will be faced with an imminent mandate to buy electric cars, which could hurt working families who cannot afford to invest in such expensive technology.

Newsom’s executive action could very well be mimicked by New Mexico, as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has followed suit with California on multiple energy-based issues, such as signing New Mexico’s “Energy Transition Act,” which will ban all oil production by 2045. 

According to a 2019 review by Power The Future, “Governor Lujan Grisham traveled an estimated 6,000 miles by car and took 15 flights across the country from May through July while utilizing fossil fuel-based transportation. This despite her promise to ‘promote the purchase and use of electric vehicles in our state, in order to help make it a center of that growing industry.’” The numbers are likely to be much higher today, as the Governor has tried to build a national presence to find a spot in the Joe Biden administration if he were to win the Presidency in November. 

In September 2019, Lujan Grisham unilaterally decided to increase the cost of cars with increased emissions standards with vehicles in the 2022 model year, which is expected to increase the average fuel economy to 52 mpg, according to the Albuquerque Journal.  

“To combat climate change, to keep New Mexico’s citizens safe, to protect the air we all breathe, it’s essential we adopt more stringent clean car standards that increase fuel economy and reduce emissions,” she said at the time. 

Power The Future’s notes that the move is predicted that car prices will rise an average of $2,700 thanks to the “regressive green agenda” set forth by the Governor.

Power The Future’s Larry Behrens wrote regarding Newsom’s executive order, “Governor Lujan Grisham has never heard of a radical California idea she didn’t like, and this one is no different. Late last year, the Governor took fossil fuel-powered transportation to New York City to sign her own extreme vehicle emissions edict. When they were asked about it, the Governor’s office worked hard to hide the fact her actions were a carbon-copy of California’s.”

“If the Governor wants to copy California and lecture New Mexican’s about what to drive, she might want to first look at the gas-mileage of her own massive SUV.”

Due to California’s left-wing energy policies, they have experienced widespread energy blackouts across the state, which has resulted in a loss of life and threatening wildfires.

It is not immediately known if the Governor is to follow suit with California and sign an executive order of her own. However, electing a pro-energy majority in the state Legislature is critical in 2020 to counteract the imbalance of anti-oil and gas rhetoric coming from the Governor and her allies in the state House and Senate.