Virginia will exit California electric vehicle mandate

Virginia will stop following California's standards for car emissions that would've required every new car sold in Virginia be fully electric by 2035 , Gov. Youngkin announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: Youngkin's announcement could draw legal challenges because of a 2021 state law that's still on the books, despite Republican lawmakers' efforts to repeal it the past two years, Virginia Mercury reports .

Catch up quick: Lawmakers passed a law in 2021 aligning Virginia's car emissions standards with California's as part of a clean-energy push.

• At the time, Democrats had full control over the legislature and governor's office.
• The next year, California passed stricter standards, which go into effect Jan. 1 and gradually ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles each year before fully banning them starting in 2035.
• That ban extended to Virginia, lawyers with the attorney general's office and General Assembly concluded in 2022 .

Yes, but: Now, the same attorney general's office disagrees.

• In a legal opinion out Wednesday , Attorney General Jason Miyares says Virginia is "no longer legally bound to follow the emission standards of California."
• That's because the version of California standards Virginia lawmakers voted to follow in 2021 expire at the end of this year, per Miyares' opinion.
• Instead, Virginia will follow the less strict federal regulations for car emissions, which still encourage the transition away from gas-powered cars.

What they're saying: "Once again, Virginia is declaring independence — this time from a misguided electric vehicle mandate imposed by unelected leaders nearly 3,000 miles away from the Commonwealth," Youngkin said in a statement.