UK leader Rishi Sunak delays ban on new gas and diesel cars by 5 years in contentious climate shift

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he’s delaying by five years a ban on new gas and diesel cars that had been due to take effect in 2030. The move is among measures that water down green pledges the U.K. has made. Sunak says Britain remains committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, but in a way that won’t “impose unacceptable costs on hard-pressed British families.” The announcement has angered green groups, opposition politicians and large chunks of U.K. industry, but has been welcomed by some in the governing Conservative Party who chafe at the expense of switching to renewable energy.