Two US senators from California are asking the Biden administration to set a clear date for the national end of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales. 

Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein - both Democrats - urge President Joe Biden to protect states’ rights to set their own emission guidelines. California’s emission standards are among the most stringent in the country, and California’s vehicle standards are typically adopted by states in the West and Midwest as their own, Kallanish notes. 

“We believe the national [emissions] baseline should, at an absolute minimum, be built around the technical lead set by companies that voluntarily advanced their agreements with California.We also urge you to follow California’s lead and set a date by which all new cars and passenger trucks sold be zero-emission vehicles,” the senators write in a letter to the administration.

Several US states - including California - have already declared new ICE bans for the 2035 timeframe. 

“The automobile industry has shown it has the ingenuity and resources to reimagine our transportation systems in consumer-friendly ways. We urge your administration to take advantage of this effort and make real progress in coordination with states, like California, that share your goals to aggressively fight climate change by eliminating harmful pollution from the transportation sector,” the senators write.