California’s effort to put new gas cars in the rearview gets greenlight from EPA

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

The effort to put new gas cars in the rearview

Californians could begin to see fewer new cars with gas tanks for sale across the state starting in 2026.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the Golden State the greenlight on two major clean air rules this week. One will phase out sales of new gasoline-powered cars statewide by 2035 and the other sets stricter emission standards for heavy trucks.

The federal waivers signify a major milestone in California’s nation-leading endeavor to reduce the health harms and environmental effects of fossil fuels.

The state’s now-approved rules “are collectively expected to prevent more than 3,700 premature deaths and provide $36 billion in public health benefits,” Times environment reporter Tony Briscoe wrote this week, citing state officials.

Legal showdowns with the incoming Trump administration and the fossil fuel industry are all but assured, Tony told me this week.

“But, as it currently stands, California — and a bloc of Democrat-led states — are one step closer to making the internal combustion engine a thing of the past,” he added.

How the gas car phaseout works

The approved rule only applies to new cars being sold from manufacturers to dealers, meaning used cars — the strong majority of vehicles sold each year — don’t face any bans for being gas-powered.

But over time, phasing out new gas cars “will drastically accelerate the number of electric vehicles on the road, reduce smog in cities like Los Angeles and help the state make progress toward its aggressive climate targets,” Tony said.

New car sales are a minority of U.S. vehicle sales each year. According to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, roughly 537.5 million motor vehicles were sold and leased nationwide between 2010 and 2019. New cars accounted for about 157.6 million of that total — less than 30%.

State data show about 25% of California car sales in 2023 were zero-emission vehicles — up from about 19.5% the year before.

‘Step up’ or ‘get left behind’

With the EPA’s approval, California will join Canada, the United Kingdom and the 27 countries of the European Union with policies that ban new gasoline car sales by 2035 or sooner.

Kathy Harris, director of clean vehicles at the National Resources Defense Council, told me the ambitious switch to cleaner and zero-emission vehicles should be viewed as a net benefit for the auto industry, consumers and anyone who would like cleaner air than the state has right now.

“This transition is happening globally, and it’s really a question of whether or not we get left behind in that transition, or if we’re ready to step up to the plate to be competitive and be a global leader that we historically have been related to transportation,” she said.

And the Golden State’s zero-emission mandate is having an impact at home. Tony noted in his recent reporting that Washington, New York and several other states have adopted California’s rule.

“If they follow through, the rule would be in effect for about 133 million people, or nearly 40% of the country’s population,” he wrote.

Pushback on the horizon

Shocking no one, the multibillion-dollar fossil fuel industry that profits from the sales of gas-burning vehicles staunchly opposes California’s recent rules.

In a statement, Chet Thompson, president and CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, called California’s new gas car bans and the EPA’s approval “unlawful” and argued they will “undermine U.S. energy and national security.”

“These policies will harm consumers — millions of whom don’t even live in California — by taking away their ability to buy new gas cars in their home states and raising vehicle and transportation costs,” Thompson’s statement reads. “Americans want nothing to do with gas car bans, EV mandates or California radicalism, which they just made abundantly clear at the polls. I suspect this is why EPA waited until after the election to issue this decision.”

Tony clarified that California’s rule is technically not an EV mandate because the required new zero-emission or long-range plug-in hybrid vehicles could be hydrogen fueled.

The fossil fuel trade group is also appealing to the incoming Trump-Vance administration to rescind more stringent emission standards and California’s new gas car phaseout.

And while the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit filed by a bloc of conservative states challenging California’s authority to set its own emissions standards, justices will hear an appeal early next year from oil and bio-fuel producers who argue the EPA has given California too much power over clean air rules.

Trump’s transition team is reportedly planning sweeping rollbacks to President Biden’s policies aimed at making it easier for consumers to make the switch to EVs and curbing harmful emissions.

Decades of research show people are getting sicker and dying sooner due to the heat and air pollution caused by our burning of fossil fuels.

Today’s top stories

LAPD investigates scores of bomb threats a year. Was one sent by the deputy mayor?

• Authorities say Brian Williams, a top deputy to Mayor Karen Bass, is suspected of sending an anonymous threat about a bomb inside City Hall in October. An attorney for Williams said his client is innocent.
• LAPD records show that police have investigated scores of such threats in recent years, including at least 144 cases in which an explosive device was found.

The Chinese government planted an agent in SoCal with the mission to influence local governments, the feds allege

• A Chino Hills man was allegedly used to advance policies favorable to the People’s Republic of China in Southern California local government, according to a criminal complaint.
• It’s unclear of the scope of the effort and whether it led to any concrete actions to favor China. But the indictment comes at a time of souring U.S.-China relations and a looming trade war when President-elect Donald Trump returns to power.

Atmospheric storms in California could complicate holiday travel

• A series of atmospheric river storms are expected to impact Northern California over the weekend, meaning there could be some repercussions for holiday travel.
• “It’s going to be pretty messy, especially Monday and Tuesday if you’re trying to travel during those days,” National Weather Service meteorologist Dial Hoang said.

California squirrels are now apparently hunting and eating other rodents

• The squirrels are hunting like carnivores, taking down and then consuming other, smaller rodents, according to a UC Davis study.
• The news suggests squirrels are much more opportunistic in their diets than previously realized. “This was shocking,” the study’s lead author said.

What else is going on

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• You can thank Harris and Biden for a peaceful transfer of power, columnist Jackie Calmes writes.
• As my female friends and I entered our mid-40s, many of us have found it harder than ever to tolerate alcohol, The Times’ Deborah Netburn writes.
• Weight-loss drugs are great, but real food still matters, writes Emily Armistead, the interim executive director of Madre Brava, a research and advocacy group.
• To give great gifts, stop thinking like a gift giver, writes Jeff Galak, co-founder of the GiftStar AI.

This morning’s must reads

A California prisoner allegedly took over Alaska’s fentanyl trade from inside his cell. Using contraband cellphones and women that he called his “wives,” Heraclio Sanchez Rodriguez oversaw a sprawling drug ring that spread death and addiction to the most remote corners of Alaska, prosecutors say.

Other must reads

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

Going out

Staying in

A question for you: What is your favorite holiday movie?

Cynthia Paskos writes: “‘The Lion In Winter.’ Second place … ‘Love, Actually’ (of course)!”

Josh Ashenmiller writes: “I think it’s time to add last year’s ‘The Holdovers’ to the list.”

And Mike Letteriello writes: “The intentionally gloomy London streets of Dickensian London and the miserable, ‘grasping old sinner’ Ebeneezer Scrooge walking amongst them set the stage for the brighter, more energized and optimistic scenes of Scrooge’s conversion and his new sponsorship of the Cratchit family and Tiny Tim in my favorite version of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ with a very convincing Alastair Sim as Scrooge.”

Thank you to everyone who shared their favorite holiday movies. It was nice hearing from you.

And finally … your photo of the day

Today’s photo is from staff photographer Wally Skalij, who was recently on assignment for the last night of muscle car mayhem at Irwindale Speedway.

Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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