Whoa. California Announced It Will Ban The Sale Of New Gasoline-Powered Cars By 2035

David McNew. Getty Images.

NY Times- California is expected to put into effect on Thursday its sweeping plan to prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, a groundbreaking move that could have major effects on the effort to fight climate change and accelerate a global transition toward electric vehicles.

The rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board, will require that 100 percent of all new cars sold in the state by 2035 be free of the fossil fuel emissions chiefly responsible for warming the planet, up from 12 percent today. It sets interim targets requiring that 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 produce zero emissions. That would climb to 68 percent by 2030.

The restrictions are important because not only is California the largest auto market in the United States, but more than a dozen other states typically follow California’s lead when setting their own auto emissions standards.

Let's go live to Elon Musk for his reaction to this news:

A state full of a kabillion people outright banning the sale of gasoline powered cars seems like a pretty big deal, even though 2035 feels closer to 35 years away than roughly a dozen years away to my old dumb brain where 1996 is forever 10 years ago.

I suppose this may not come as much of a shock to people that actually read the news or are at least into cars since I had a cab driver telling me about the sale of new gas cars being banned pretty soon before I flew to Los Angeles for The Dozen Live Tournament. However once I landed and saw the prices of gas in LA on my ride to the hotel, I wondered why the hell anybody in California would even want to have a gas-powered car

Now this is the part of the blog where people would either start bickering about politics, climate change, or politics AND climate change. However as someone that trusts all politicians about as much as I trust someone that says everything is going to be perfectly fine on this planet years from now, I am going to drop some car terminology and change gears to the real upsetting issue here, which is this:

How the fuck are we living in the year of George Jetsons birth yet are still using cars with wheels? I don't give a shit if those cars are powered by gas, electricity, or happy thoughts like Peter Pan. The fact that humans couldn't get a flying car in every driveway spaceport by the year 2022 of our Lord a cool 136 years after the gas-powered engine was patented is maybe the darkest mark in the history of mankind.

thinks about the history of mankind for a second

Okay, that may be a bit extreme. But it's still an unbelievable 28-3 Falcons level collapse by homo sapiens, regardless of what type of cars Dodgers fans drive home from the stadium during the 7th inning of playoff games.