The Republican governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, announced Wednesday that Virginia will be breaking away from the 16 other states that followed car emissions guidelines set by California’s Air Resources Board, which is aiming to have all new cars sold in California be electric cars by 2035.

Over the next ten years, California is expecting car dealerships to phase out the sale of internal combustion engine cars and replace them with zero-emission electric cars.

Up until Wednesday, 17 states followed the guidelines set by California’s Air Resources Board, a government body charged with regulating air pollutants as they relate to smog and climate change.

Mr. Youngkin, however, announced that Virginia would be “declaring independence” from the board and what he called a “misguided electric vehicle mandate imposed.”

“The idea that government should tell people what kind of car they can or can’t purchase is fundamentally wrong,” Mr. Youngkin said in a statement. “Virginians deserve the freedom to choose which vehicles best fit the needs of their families and businesses.”

Under the Clean Air Act, states are allowed to adopt one of two sets of standards in the realm of vehicle emissions — the federal standards or the California standards. Historically, the California standards have been the stricter of the two.

In 2021, prior to Mr. Youngkin taking office, the Virginia Assembly voted in favor of adopting the California standards, which have higher standards for cars in terms of limiting nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, greenhouse gas, and particulate emission.

According to the Virginia attorney general, Jason Miyares, Virginia is no longer required to follow the California standards, as laid out in the 2021 law. “Today, I’ve issued an official Attorney General Opinion that confirms that Virginians are no longer legally bound to follow the emission standards of California,” Mr. Miyares said.

The attorney general explained in an opinion, the 2021 law required Virginia to adopt the emissions standards set forth in California “Advanced Clean Cars I” but that the state was not required to adopt the standards set forth in “Advanced Clean Cars II,” which is set to require all new cars sold in California to be zero emission by 2035.

“EV mandates like California’s are unworkable and out of touch with reality, and thankfully the law does not bind us to their regulations,” Mr. Miyares said.