European Parliament adopts zero emission proposal

The European Parliament on Wednesday threw its weight behind a proposed ban on cars with a combustion engine in 2035, seeking to step up the fight against climate change through faster development of electric vehicles. Members of parliament voted in favor of the plan, which would require automakers to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 100% by the middle of the next decade, 339 votes to 249. The mandate would amount to a prohibition on the sale in the 27-nation EU of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel. The ban on combustion engines in 2035 was proposed last year by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.