Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has vowed to sever ties with California’s automobile regulators after they approved a plan to end the sales of gasoline-powered cars in the Golden State by 2035 — a goal even California will struggle to reach.

Under legislation signed by Youngkin’s Democrat predecessor, Ralph Northam, in 2021, left-wing legislators in Virginia tied their state’s vehicle emissions policies to those of California, which are among the strictest (and most utopian) in the nation.

Last Friday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) finalized regulations to implement a proposal to end the sales of most gas vehicles in the state by 2035, following an ambitious proposal announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2020.

In a statement Friday, Youngkin said that he was “already at work to prevent this ridiculous edict from being forced on Virginians,” and blamed “liberal politicians who previously ran our government” for having “sold Virginia out.”

California’s new policy, which was imposed by the governor without fear of opposition from the Democrat-controlled state legislature, may run into several practical obstacles.

As Capital Public Radio — hardly a conservative outlet — noted Sunday, California faces several challenges: electric vehicles are still very expensive; key components are controlled by China; the infrastructure for charging  is still very limited; and the U.S. lacks the engineering workforce to transform the vehicle fleet.

Moreover, California’s electric grid is already struggling to meet demand, thanks to “green” mandates and the closure of natural gas and nuclear power plants. Adding millions of electric vehicles will mean further burdens on a failing system.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.