France this week announced a bold plan to ban the sale of all fully-gasoline and diesel fuel vehicles by 2040.
Other countries, like India and Norway have expressed interest in similar plans. But could, or should, the United States implement such a policy?
The answer, experts say, is complicated. One problem is the country’s mixed attitude towards climate change. Some early adopters of electric vehicles are buying the cars to be more eco-friendly. But that motivation wouldn’t drive the 52% of Americans who don’t believe human activity is changing the climate.
And at the federal level, President Donald Trump, who recently decided to exit the Paris climate accords, has been cooler towards alternative energy solutions than past presidents.
“When I was serving on a committee studying the obstacles to adoption of electric vehicles at the National Academy of Sciences, we concluded that there was no possibility of even getting a carbon tax passed, and that was under the Obama administration, which had a much more pro-environment stance than our current administration,” said Melissa Schilling, a professor of management and organizations at New York University.
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