A State Senate committee voted down three Republican bills that would repeal Virginia’s electric-vehicle mandate.
The mandate, signed into law in 2021, sets a 2035 deadline for all new cars, pickup trucks and SUVs offered for sale to be 100 percent zero-emission vehicles – in essence, banning the sale of new gas-powered cars.
Drivers would be able to keep their existing gas-powered cars and buy used ones.
Republican state lawmakers have been trying to gut the standards, which follow a model first developed by California, and now in place in 15 states, with Gov. Glenn Youngkin calling for a repeal in his State of the Commonwealth speech last week.
There are repeal bills still alive in the Virginia House of Delegates, which is also now majority Democrat, and it would be expected that the bills there would meet the same fate as what we saw in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources on Tuesday.
“Staying the course on Clean Cars will save lives, protect public health, and address our state’s largest contributor to the climate crisis – the light-duty cars, trucks and SUVs that we drive every day – all while expanding consumer choice and saving drivers money,” said Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.
“Continuing to cut pollution from the transportation sector will be vital as we work long-term to tackle climate change and protect clean air for all Virginians. We are grateful for Democrats’ leadership on Clean Cars and hope today’s votes are the first of many this session that prioritize climate action over what’s best for the fossil fuel industry,” Town said.
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Chris Graham
