No! Not even hard core lefty Obama would have done that and his administration illegally attacked coal wiping out thousands of well-paying jobs and which caused electrical prices to increase on millions of Americans across the country but this is another topic.
Norway is planning to go completely green and ditch fossil fuel based cars in favor of clean energy vehicles. The country has set an ambitious target of replacing every single gasoline and diesel car in the market with zero and low emission vehicles by 2025.
Norway’s Sustainable Transport System
While the country has no plans for an outright ban on fossil fuel vehicles, it believes it can encourage people to make the switch themselves with the help of a ‘polluter pays’ tax system, which incentivizes the purchase of clean energy vehicles.
Already, Norway is one of the greenest countries in terms of its transportation system, with electric cars accounting for up to 22% of the total sales in 2015 alone. The number is expected to reach 30% in the next three years. The country also aims to have at least one public charging point for every 10 electric cars by 2020.
Other Countries to Go Green
Following the Norway model, many other countries have also expressed an interest in switching to clean energy vehicles in the near future. China has stated that it is working on a timetable to end the production and sales of fossil fuel vehicles. Similarly, France recently announced that it plans to ban the sale of fossil fuel vehicles completely by 2040.
Other countries that are working on a viable plan for clean energy transportation include Austria, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Portugal, Spain, India, and the Netherlands.
Will the US Follow Suit?
The question that looms large now is – will the US follow suit? It is hard to tell at this point, as there are a number of factors at play here.
The most important factor to be considered is that the US is in the middle of a natural gas boom and fuel prices are cheaper than they have ever been in a long time. So, the administration might find it hard to persuade people to switch from gasoline and diesel cars to electric cars.
Secondly, the cleanliness of an electric car depends on the method in which the electricity is generated in the first place. It makes very little sense to drive around in electric cars if the electricity is produced by burning huge amounts of coal though as already insinuated America is loaded in coal and coal can be burned cleaner. Therefore, some experts believe that the goal should be an overall reduction in emissions rather than outright banning fossil fuel vehicles.
Thirdly, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has categorically stated that there are no plans to ban gasoline and diesel vehicles. The US has managed to reduce its air pollution by up to 70% in the past four decades, which is no mean task. So, the agency believes there is no need to fix a bridge that is not broken.
This does not mean, however, that the US will stick to fossil fuel cars indefinitely. Already, states like California are mulling a ban on gas powered cars but this is also a state that has seen its middle class disembark and leave to lower tax states and is on the brink of financial collapse – but this state is pretty irrational so it could go this route.
The US Administration is also planning to incentivize the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles. Automakers like Volvo and Tesla continue to make great strides in producing clean energy vehicles. In fact, Volvo has announced that starting 2019, it will only make hybrid and electric vehicles. Well, this could be because they may not want to have another fuel mileage fiasco blow up in their offices but this is another subject!