UK delays ban on new gas, diesel cars to 2035

(AP) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced Wednesday that he’s delaying by five years a ban on new gas and diesel cars that had been due to take effect in 2030, watering down climate goals that he said imposed “unacceptable costs” on ordinary people.

The move angered green groups, opposition politicians and large chunks of U.K. industry, but was welcomed by some in the governing Conservative Party who chafe at the expense of ending reliance on fossil fuels.

At a news conference Sunak said he was moving the deadline for buying new gasoline and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035, and also delaying a ban on new natural-gas home heating that had been due in 2035.

He said he would keep a promise to reduce the U.K.’s emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050, but with “a more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach.”