Biden Calls For US To Reach 40 Percent Electric Vehicles By 2030

President Joe Biden will call for the U.S. to have electric vehicles comprise 40-50% of all new auto sales by 2030, the White House announced Thursday.

The White House revealed the goal in a fact sheet detailing the efforts of both the federal government and U.S. automakers to develop cleaner vehicles. Executives from Ford, GM and Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, will attend an event touting the move at the White House later Thursday. Biden will sign an executive order facilitating the years-long goal, but it will not make reaching the goal mandatory, according to CNBC. (RELATED: The End Of Cars As We Know It)

“Today, Ford, GM and Stellantis announce their shared aspiration to achieve sales of 40-50% of annual U.S. volumes of electric vehicles (battery electric, fuel cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles) by 2030 in order to move the nation closer to a zero-emissions future consistent with Paris climate goals,” the automakers said in a joint statement. “We look forward to working with the Biden Administration, Congress and state and local governments to enact policies that will enable these ambitious objectives.”

Cars drive under an electronic sign board warning drivers about coronavirus, COVID-19, on a highway near Baltimore, Maryland on March 24, 2020. – Some 1.7 billion people have been asked to stay home in over 50 countries and territories around the world as governments battle the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, according to an AFP tally March 23. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The goal is only Biden’s most recent effort to combat climate change, an issue he vowed to make a priority while on the campaign trail. Biden also reentered the U.S. into the Paris Climate Accords soon after gaining office, an international effort the U.S. had withdrawn from under former President Donald Trump. (RELATED: ‘Very Real Threat To Our National Security’: Kamala Harris Fearmongers On Climate Change In Naval Academy Speech)

Biden has also committed the U.S. to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.

“Today’s announcements would put us on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new passenger vehicle sales by more than 60 percent in 2030 compared to vehicles sold last year, and facilitate achieving the President’s goal of 50-52 percent net economy-wide greenhouse gas emission reductions below 2005 levels in 2030,” the White House said in a statement.