Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing. The ability to think for yourself and make a decision on your own! Nobody telling you what to do because you have the right to choose what's best for you. Free will, if you will.

Take car shopping for example. Electric cars are becoming a popular choice when looking for a new vehicle, while some of us still prefer gas powered automobiles. Here in New York State you won't be allowed to choose much longer. You will be mandated to purchase an electric vehicle.

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According to Electrek, New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated that there will be “no more excuses” not to buy an electric vehicle. We aren't talking about the next generation of car buyers, this means you and me. By 2035 you will not be allowed to buy a new gas powered automobile in New York but the process begins sooner than that.

ABC7 reports that this is a gradual process with 100% of new vehicle purchases in New York to be zero-emission models beginning in 2035, 68% by 2030 and 35% by 2026. This includes all new passenger cars, trucks and SUV's sold in New York must be zero-emissions.

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New York is a national climate leader and an economic powerhouse, and we're using our strength to help spur innovation and implementation of zero-emission vehicles on a grand scale.. Governor Hochul

New York State is following the lead set by California as they finalized the Advanced Clean Cars II regulation in August. This opened up New York's ability to adopt the same regulation.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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