Gasoline Phaseout News – May 2025
How States Can Respond to Congress Revoking Their Ability to Mandate EVs
In a likely illegal move, Congress voted to revoke California’s authority to phase out by 2035 the sale of new gas-powered cars. The vote impacts 12 states (and the District of Columbia), which adopted California’s emission standards and make up 40% of the nation’s car market.

Besides challenging the revocation in the courts and forming a new Affordable Clean Cars Coalition, what can states do to keep the US competitive in the global fuel switch and save US drivers money?
In 2020, Coltura argued in a law review article that states have the legal authority to require all new cars sold be EVs, based on longstanding state authority to regulate electricity.
States can also more fully mobilize government to support EVs. In Washington State, Coltura led a successful campaign to pass a law setting a 2030 gas car phaseout target and requiring development of an all-of-government plan to achieve it. Other states can follow Washington’s lead, enabling the US to remain a viable competitor in the global race to fuel-switch, reducing a major source of carbon emissions and air pollution, and reducing transportation costs for drivers.

Coltura’s policy director Rob Sargent (front right, in red shoes) joined other advocates in Washington, DC to plot strategies for continued progress in these challenging times.
A Personal Note from Coltura’s Co-Executive Directors
We stand at a crossroads wrapped in shadows. The Trump administration is dismantling California’s authority to mandate 100% EV sales by 2035, while federal tax credits face extinction. The forces of regression threaten years of painstaking progress.
Yet in this gloom, Coltura burns brighter—a beacon of inspiration and creativity charting new directions forward.
For eleven years, we’ve punched above our weight. We wrote those first op-eds in 2017 calling for a new gas car phaseout and convened California policy leaders to launch the gasoline phaseout movement. We’ve pioneered data-driven EV advocacy, developed alternative policy and legal pathways, and delivered Gasoline Phaseout News every month for eight years straight.
Now we’re breaking new ground with cutting-edge AI and data analytics, educating people on EVs in innovative ways, and charting paths forward that don’t rely on federal support.
Our secret? We’ve done it all on a shoestring. Our small team of extraordinarily talented people changes the world daily. They’re underpaid but unstoppable because they know what’s at stake.
But we can’t keep running on passion alone.
When others retreat, we advance. Every dollar funds the research, AI tools, and education that will accelerate our gasoline-free future—with or without Washington.
Will you help us lead through the darkness?
House Passes Tax Bill to Eliminate EV Incentives and Add Punitive EV Tax
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would eliminate EV incentives, including the $7,500 federal tax credit for new EVs and the $4,000 credit for used EVs, starting January 1, 2026. (The credit would still be available for automakers that have sold fewer than 200,000 EVs, including Rivian and Lucid, until January 1, 2027.)
The bill would also impose an annual EV tax of $250 – about 3x what the average gas car driver pays in federal gas taxes. These taxes would be in addition to existing state EV taxes, which average around $142 per year. This tax would penalize drivers who are reducing pollution and saving money by switching from gasoline. And it would disproportionately impact lower-income families and high-mileage drivers—those who stand to benefit most from EV cost savings. The measure would need to be approved by the Senate to become law. See Coltura’s full position statement on the annual tax here.
Advocates Notch Victory Against New Gas Stations in Santa Rosa
In 2022, the city of Santa Rosa, California adopted an ordinance permanently prohibiting new gas stations. Two gas station projects already “in the pipeline” were exempted from the ban. CONGAS (the Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations), an organization fighting the harms of gas stations to public health and safety and climate, has been leading the opposition to these grandfathered proposals.
The last proposal is now in its final stages of review. On April 10, the Santa Rosa Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny the new gas station’s permit.
On April 21, the applicant filed an appeal of the Commission’s decision. The appeal will now be taken up by the full Santa Rosa City Council, likely in July.
For further info, contact congas.contact@gmail.com.
New Gas Station Threatens Oyster Bay in Bremerton, WA
The City of Bremerton is considering approval of a new gas station poised on a cliff less than 100 yards from Oyster Bay, an inlet of Puget Sound famed for its Olympia oysters. An old gas station on the site leaked 40 years ago, and leaks from a new station could devastate marine life in the bay. There are more than a dozen gas stations within a three-mile radius of the site. Contact Bremerton planner Kelli Lambert at Kelli.Lambert@ci.bremerton.wa.us to express your opposition.
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Data insight of the month: Black and Latino Gasoline Superusers Realize Most Economic Benefit with an EV
Black Superusers can save on average nearly 10% of family income in fuel savings by switching to an EV and Latino Superusers can save nearly 8%. Total average annual fuel savings for Black and Latino Superusers combined are $3,800, and fuel and maintenance combined are $4,900.
Culture Corner: Redneck Reviews Dodge Charger EV
Ginger Billy, aka Adam Parkins, a comedian and self-professed redneck from rural South Carolina with nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers, reviewed the 2025 Dodge Charger EV in a video garnering 191,000 views. His verdict: “This is a fun car to drive. It’s cheaper than a Corvette. It’s fast. It’s a motha… 8/10. I really enjoyed it.”