Giving Compass' Take:

• California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order stating that sales of all new passenger vehicles in the state to be zero-emission by 2035 and crafts regulations to meet that goal. 

• What role can donors play in making their cities more sustainable and contributing to goals such as this one? How are you contributing toward curbing transportation emissions? 

• Read more about California's plans to cut transportation emissions. 


California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday issued an executive order adopting a goal for the sales of all new passenger vehicles in the state to be zero-emission by 2035, taking aim at the roughly 50% share of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions that come from the transportation sector. The order instructs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to craft regulations mandating that goal, which will reduce more than 35% of greenhouse gas emissions from cars statewide, according to Newsom's administration. It also tasks the agency with ensuring that medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are 100% zero emission by 2045 "everywhere feasible."

There's a long way to go before Newsom's order leads to a potential mandate, if any, said Morten Lund, a partner at Stoel Rives. But if it does, "this will change the nature of load. And it's important that the grid planners know this, so it's good they have as much warning as possible."

Newsom's executive order includes a series of instructions for state agencies, including requiring the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to work with CARB, the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission, along with other entities, to create a zero-emissions vehicle market development strategy by Jan. 31, 2021. That strategy will then be updated every three years.

The move comes against the backdrop of a series of destructive wildfires that have burned more than 3 million acres of California this year. Earlier this month, Newsom said he would "fast track" the state's climate change goals, saying he had asked agency officials to take a closer look at current strategies "and accelerate all of them across the board."

Read the full article about zero-emissions vehicles by Kavya Balaraman at Smart Cities Dive.