Another California Democrat is proposing a bill to eliminate gas-powered cars in California by 2040, following China’s lead (whose target date is a decade earlier). France, the United Kingdom, and India have already made similar proposals.

California already has the most stringent air quality regulations in the nation, with the goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

According to the Sacramento Bee, California is playing catch-up:

When the Legislature returns in January, Assemblyman Phil Ting plans to introduce a bill that would ban the sale of new cars fueled by internal-combustion engines after 2040. The San Francisco Democrat said it’s essential to get California drivers into an electric fleet if the state is going to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets, since the transportation sector accounts for more than a third of all emissions.

“The market is moving this way. The entire world is moving this way,” Ting said. “At some point you need to set a goal and put a line in the sand.”

…

“California is used to being first. But we’re trying to catch up to this,” Ting said.

Some proposals under discussion by Nichols and other policymakers include using the regulatory rather than legislative route to implement the ban.

No one has yet explained how the state plans to deal with phasing out existing cars, including valuable classic and exotic cars.

There is likely to be stiff resistance to any proposal to ban gas-powered cars.