California Assemblyman Phil Ting is putting his money where his mouth is after telling Bloomberg his plans to introduce a bill that would effectively ban vehicles powered by fossil fuels by 2040. Ting’s efforts to ban cars using internal combustion engines is similar to moves that are being done in China, France, and the United Kingdom. “Until you set a deadline, nothing gets done,” he told Bloomberg. “It’s responsible for us to set a deadline 23 years in advance.”

The lawmaker indicated that he plans to introduce the bill next month when a new legislative session opens in Sacramento. Part of the bill’s goal is to accelerate similar attempts made by California officials to address a ban on cars using internal combustion engines. It’s worth noting that California is the largest market for new vehicle sales in the US, so there’s a need to discuss the issue before it becomes a bigger problem in the future.

The California Air Resources Board has had similar discussions about this issue. Even Governor Jerry Brown showed interest in replicating the measures that have been put in place in other countries, so it’s not surprising that the assemblyman is finally taking action. He’s right, too, when he said nothing will come out of all the talk unless there’s a set plan in place that everybody can follow.

Now we wait to see if assemblyman Ting is a man of his word. More importantly, we’ll know too whether his constituents feel the same way. If his proposed bill gets the support it needs to pass, California becomes the first state in the US to have a detailed deadline in place that could reshape the auto industry in the country. Time to step up or step aside, assemblyman.