In the midst of that chaos, Gov. Gavin Newsom, citing the urgent need to address the climate crisis and cut air pollution, issued an executive order<\/a> banning the sale<\/a> of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.<\/p>\n Polling in the summer of 2021 by the Public Policy Institute of California<\/a> showed an even split: 49% of Californians supported the plan. And 49% opposed it.<\/p>\n You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n Sign up to start every day with California’s most important stories.<\/p>\n By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n Now, most Californians have soured on it.<\/p>\n A new statewide PPIC poll released this month<\/a> showed that 66% of Californians now oppose Newsom\u2019s edict, which directed the state Air Resources Board to come up with a plan<\/a> to require 100% of new cars and light trucks sold in the state by 2035 to be zero-emission.<\/p>\n Electric vehicles being charged at a Tesla Supercharger station on Sept. 23, 2024, in Pasadena.<\/p>\n (Mario Tama \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n The air resources board approved<\/a> such a plan in 2022, with Newsom saying: \u201cIt\u2019s ambitious. It\u2019s innovative. It\u2019s the action we must take if we\u2019re serious about leaving this planet better off for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, per the PPIC poll, most Republicans (91%) and independents (69%) oppose Newsom\u2019s order. Democrats are evenly split.<\/p>\n Opposition is especially high in inland areas such as the pollution-ridden Central Valley, where 74% opposed the order. The highest support came from the Los Angeles region, with 40% in favor (and 59% opposed).<\/p>\n People are worried about charges, both financial and electric.<\/p>\n Amid the spiraling cost<\/a> of essentials in America \u2014 housing<\/a>, healthcare<\/a>, child care<\/a>, gas<\/a>, utilities<\/a>, groceries<\/a> \u2014 many simply cannot afford to buy electric vehicles, which typically cost more than fossil-fueled cars.<\/p>\n And in California, my colleague George Skelton reported<\/a>, residents are not convinced there will be enough charging stations to handle a huge surge in electric vehicles, even though the state now has more than 200,000<\/a> public and shared charging stations, plus 800,000 chargers in homes.<\/p>\n The PPIC poll, per Skelton, found \u201cplenty of contradiction and hypocrisy in the divided minds of Californians,\u201d who \u201cstrongly favor fighting climate change \u2014 at least in concept \u2014 until it adversely affects them directly.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other hand, most Californians (62%) favor California\u2019s ambitious law<\/a> requiring all electricity to come from renewable sources by 2045, per the poll. But fewer than 4 in 10 said they were willing to pay extra for clean energy.<\/p>\n PPIC polling director Mark Baldassare, who owns an electric vehicle, told Skelton he was struck by \u201cthe disconnect between what people support in policies and what they\u2019re prepared to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwo things are going on in California now,\u201d he added. \u201cPeople have their long-standing concerns about the environment. But they also have immediate concerns about affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n A new rebate is coming for EVs, which make up a solid chunk of sales.<\/p>\n Nearly a year after the expiration of a $7,500 federal tax incentive for new electric vehicles and $4,000 on used ones, Newsom, in his final state budget<\/a> as governor, allocated $135 million<\/a> to provide incentives<\/a> for new and used EVs.<\/p>\n Eligible buyers will receive $3,500 off new EVs and $1,750 off used ones. Unlike the federal tax credits that expired in September, the incentives offer an instant discount and don\u2019t require buyers to apply for credit later. The state and auto manufacturers will split the cost of the incentives.<\/p>\n California leads the country in EV sales, though the PPIC poll shows mixed views about them, with 12% of residents saying they own one and 33% say they have seriously considered purchasing one \u2014 and 54% saying they had not considered buying one.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s press office in an email declined to comment on the PPIC survey, saying it does not typically comment on polls.<\/p>\n In a news release Monday<\/a>, Newsom said Californians purchased 86,857 new zero-emission vehicles in the second quarter of 2026, representing 19% of new car sales. Demand for such vehicles, the governor\u2019s office said, grew as gasoline prices skyrocketed amid the war with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Donald Trump makes Americans pay the bill for his Iran war at the pump, California is giving families the freedom to choose a cheaper way forward by going electric,\u201d Newsom said in the statement, adding that \u201cwe built the largest electric car market in America, and we\u2019re not stopping now.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s top stories A pedestrian uses an umbrella last week to block the sun amid high temperatures in downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n This SoCal heat wave could be the hottest of the yearSouthern California is bracing for its hottest stretch of the year,<\/a> with triple-digit temperatures and stifling humidity forecast from Tuesday through Monday across much of the region.Exacerbating the misery will be the lack of cooling temperatures overnight. The L.A. Basin may see low temperatures of only about 70 degrees.Paramount-Warner Bros. deal on hold after court rulingA federal judge ruled that the proposed merger \u201craises serious questions\u201d<\/a> about whether the blockbuster $111-billion deal violates U.S. antitrust law.The ruling was anticipated, but it dealt a blow to tech scion David Ellison\u2019s efforts to quickly finalize his massive acquisition, which has the support of President Trump.New evidence in brutal killing of teen set to come to lightA preliminary hearing in the murder and sexual assault case<\/a> against David Anthony Burke, a singer who performs under the stage name D4vd, is set to begin Tuesday.Burke is accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez and dismembering her body at his Hollywood Hills home.What else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning\u2019s must-readFor your downtime Crowds hike their way up the Mist Trail, one of the more popular trails in Yosemite National Park.<\/p>\n (William Hale Irwin\/For The Times)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inA question for you: As temperatures rise in SoCal, how do you stay cool?<\/p>\n Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n And finally … your photo of the day Jacqueline Castro runs tennis drills with her daughter, Ruby, 5, during a Mommy & Me tennis class at Burbank Tennis Club.<\/p>\n (Samanta Helou Hernandez \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s great photo is from Times contributor Samanta Helou Hernandez at Burbank Tennis Club, where L.A. moms are returning to sports for their kids and themselves<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Hailey Branson-Potts, staff writer How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In September 2020, California was burning. Deadly wildfires scorched a record-breaking swath of the state. Californians suffered from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":["post-406602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-civic-revolt","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-days","tag-essential-california","tag-israel","tag-l-a","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-may","tag-pandemic","tag-part","tag-president-biden","tag-red-county","tag-san-diego","tag-state","tag-time","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784643918_540_.jpeg\")
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<\/a> <\/p>\n
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n