Canada and California partner to reduce vehicle emissions

Canada has partnered with the U.S. state of California to tackle vehicle climate pollution.

As part of the new cooperation agreement, Canada and California will work together on their respective regulations to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from all kinds of cars, SUVs and trucks.

Instead, Canada and California will collectively push electric vehicles, which will help both parties meet their zero emission vehicle targets. Further, Canada and California will share best practices and technical information about regulating cleaner fuels.

As the fifth-largest economy in the world, California has become a pioneer in the battle to cut down vehicle emissions, making the state a notable partner for Canada. As of now, one in ten new cars sold in California is a plug-in car, while half of all plug-in cars sales in the U.S. to date (nearly 600,000) were made in California.

Canada is also looking to draw inspiration from California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard, has displaced 3.3 billion gallons (about 12.5 billion litres) of petroleum-based fuels with low-carbon alternatives such as renewable electricity, diesel and natural gas.

For its part, Canada is developing a Clean Fuel Standard that looks to cut emissions by 30 million tonnes (30 billion kg) in 2030, which works out to taking seven million cars off the road.

Additionally, Canada is working towards having 100 percent of light-duty vehicles sold in the country be emission-free by 2040. To help with that, this year’s federal budget offers Canadians a rebate of up to $5,000 for qualifying zero-emission vehicles. As well, other tax incentives will be offered to businesses looking to upgrade to zero-emission fleets.

Meanwhile, California is looking to have five million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030. As part of that, all automakers in the state are required to have zero-emission vehicles make up a portion of their sales.

Source: Government of Canada