Newsom applauds General Motors’ plan to go carbon neutral by 2040

(KION AND CNN) Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) tipped his hat to General Motors after the manufacturing company announced they will be going carbon neutral in the next two decades.

He goes on to say electric vehicles are the number one export in the state of California today.

General Motors made the announcement Thursday-- this was after President Joe Biden signed a flurry of executive orders in efforts to tackle climate change.

The company's plan is to transition to battery electric vehicles or other zero-emissions technologies by sourcing renewable energy. They say they will also work with the environmental defense fund to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new-light duty vehicles by 2035.

The plan is expected to cost $27 billion.

General Motors says it will also offer 30 electric vehicles and aims to have 40% of all U.S. models run on battery by the end of 2025.

The company expects to have their manufacturing plants to be 100% powered by renewable energy in 2030 in the U.S. and in 2035 abroad.

In September, Gov. Newsom signed an executive order requiring all new cars to be sold in the state to be zero-emission vehicles within the next two decades.

He says the transportation sector, including passenger cars, light trucks, heavy trucks, off-road vehicles, etc., is responsible for more than half of the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

The governor says the transportation sector is responsible for much of the smog-causing pollutants and is a significant source of toxic air contaminants which directly impacts community health.