California’s regulators for clean air unveiled a plan this week that would ramp up the sale of electric and zero-emissions vehicles and eventually phase out new gasoline-fueled vehicles by 2035, in an aggressive effort to combat the state’s greenhouse gas pollution.

If the California Air Resources Board approves, it would mandate that 35% of passenger car sales be made using hydrogen or batteries by 2026 and that 100% of all sales be net zero emissions no later than 10 years. Zero-emission sales should increase by 68% to be achieved in 2030, according to the proposal.

California’s Plan to Combat Climate Change includes the key element of shifting the transportation sector to cleaner fuels. California is home to roughly 40% of California’s emissions from vehicles, trucks and cars.

Last year’s 12.4% increase in electric vehicle sales was a significant improvement on the 7.8% year before.

It is anticipated that the board will vote on this proposal by August. Minimum 15 statesNew Jersey and New York have also adopted California’s Vehicle Standards based upon prior Clean-Car rules.

This plan is based on Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order for 2020 that calledFor the elimination of internal combustion engines in cars by 2035.

This rule does not prohibit people from buying or selling gas cars.

Californians continue to feel the adverse effects of smog and climate change. Therefore, the adoption of the proposed ACC II regulation, according to the state plan, is crucial and essential.

Newsom signed the executive order. He stated that the plan would reduce the state’s car emissions by over 35% and zero emission vehicles will “almost certainly be” cheaper than gasoline-powered cars when regulations are implemented.

The plan stated that “based on thirty years of Californian work in electrifying light-duty cars, the market is poised for major transformation.”

California, which has been suffering from worsening wildfires, drought, and rising temperatures, is also working towards a transition to 100 percent renewable energy in 2045.

Environmental groups called on the board to establish even more stringent targets for moving forward with the transition towards electric vehicles. These advocates argued that the state should enforce a rule to reach 100% zero-emission sales of all vehicle by 2030 five years before the current proposal.

“Time is running out before the world as we know it disappears in the rear-view mirror,” Scott Hochberg, a transportation attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said in a statement.

Hochberg stated that California must eliminate tailpipe pollution from its streets as quickly as possible to protect the environment and people.