Even as President Donald Trump prepared to take the United States out to the Paris climate change accords, the Texas Legislature took a step that could help lower carbon emissions.

As the biennial session came to an end last week, lawmakers revived incentives for electric cars that they killed in 2015. The program offers a $2,500 rebate on the purchase of electric cars - which can range in price from about $30,000 to $160,000 - on top of the $7,500 tax credit offered by the federal government.

The rebates are part of a state initiative known as the Texas Emissions Reduction Program, which offers a variety of grants and incentives to encourage technologies and practices that promote cleaner area. At least 37 states offer incentives, ranging from HOV lane exemptions to cash rebates, to encourage electric and hybrid cars, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The growth of electric cars poses a challenge to the oil and gas industry, particularly in developing nations, where companies are counting on growing demand for gasoline to offset declines in the U.S. market. China, which already has one of the world's largest electric car markets, is investing heavily in the development and manufacture of electric cars. In India, the government recently set a goal of having only electric cars on the road by 2030.

The world's biggest oil companies are taking notice. Global sales of electric vehicles have grown exponentially in the past decade or so, from a few hundred in 2005 to nearly 1.3 million in 2015. The British oil major BP, in its 2017 Energy Outlook, estimated that the global electric car fleet will reach 100 million by 2035, driven by lower costs for batteries and cars.

More Information Plugged in U.S. electric vehicle sales 20119,750 201214,648 201347,694 201463,416 201571,044 Source: Transportation Department

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Texas now has about 16,000 electric cars on the road, putting it in the top 10 states for electric vehicles. But Texas - like all other states - lags California, which has more than 240,000 electric vehicles and accounts for more than 75 percent of all U.S. electric vehicles, according to the clean technology website CleanTechnica.

Electric vehicles still make up only a tiny share of the millions of cars on U.S. roads, but trends suggest that will grow. U.S. sales of electric cars have jumped sevenfold in recent years, from about 10,000 in 2011 to more than 70,000 in 2015, according to the Transportation Department.

This growth comes as U.S. demand for gasoline is beginning to decline. Gasoline consumption has fallen consistently this year, compared with 2016, according to the Energy Department. Over the past four weeks, gasoline consumption fell about 1 percent from the same period a year ago, the Energy Department recently reported.

These declines are driven in large part by the improved fuel efficiency of vehicles. Around the world, oil and gas companies, as well as industry analysts, have their eyes on such developments as they consider phenomenon called peak oil demand - that is when the consumption of petroleum products stops rising and begins a decline.

Many oil companies say peak demand is still decades away, but some, including Royal Dutch Shell and the Norway's Statoil, project that it could come as soon as the next decade as global climate change policies encourage renewable and other alternative energy sources. The International Energy Agency forecasts that oil demand will peak in 2040.