California is aggressively moving to end all gas-powered cars by the year 2035. You might think that would be a big deal on the networks. But you’d be wrong. ABC and NBC responded with a collective yawn on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, allowing 23 seconds and 30 seconds, respectively. But that’s still better than CBS. The network avoided California’s radical move, skipping it on the CBS Evening News and CBS Mornings.
On the Today show, co-host Craig Melvin seemed indifferent to the big change:
California regulators are set to vote today on a new ground breaking rule that will ultimately ban the sale of gasoline cars in the entire state. That plan, which is expected to pass, would require all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs to be zero emission vehicles by the year 2035. The sale of used gas powered cars would still be allowed. Experts say the proposal would cause a ripple effect with dozens of other states following California's lead.
That bolded sentence above is another way of saying that the large state is attempting to end gas cars for the rest of the nation as well. The 30-second mention on the two-hour-long Today show was the totality of the NBC coverage.
World News Tonight anchor David Muir on Wednesday didn’t even bother to mention California’s attempt to set policy for the whole nation. Here’s his 23-second brief:
And tonight, California appearing set to move forward tomorrow with plans to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars by the next decade. The state's Air Resources Board set to vote tomorrow on a measure banning the sale of gas cars by 2035, within a decade. New rules will also require 35 percent of all new vehicles sold in that state to have zero emissions by 2026. Obviously, that's just four years from now.
It was only Fox News on Thursday that explained some of the red flags. On Fox and Friends, Carly Shimkus noted, “House Republicans warning of the possible dangers of a push towards electric vehicles, saying that such a change could strengthen Beijing. Setting market share of Chinese companies in the EV battery industry.”
The burying of radical California’s attempt to end gas-powered cars were sponsored on NBC by Hyundai and on ABC by Breyers ice cream. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
Transcripts are below.
World News Tonight
8/25/2022
6:50:17 to 6:50:40
23 secondsDAVID MUIR: And tonight, California appearing set to move forward tomorrow with plans to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars by the next decade. The state's Air Resources Board set to vote tomorrow on a measure banning the sale of gas cars by 2035, within a decade. New rules will also require 35 percent of all new vehicles sold in that state to have zero emissions by 2026. Obviously, that's just four years from now.
Today
8/25/2022
7:31:08 to 7:31:38
30 seconds
CRAIG MELVIN: California regulators are set to vote today on a new ground breaking rule that will ultimately ban the sale of gasoline cars in the entire state. That plan, which is expected to pass, would require all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs to be zero emission vehicles by the year 2035. The sale of used gas powered cars would still be allowed. Experts say the proposal would cause a ripple effect with dozens of other states following California's lead.
