He told MSNBC host Ali Velshi that "we might not own our own cars" by 2050 to wean the United States economy off of fossil fuels, describing private car ownership as "really inefficient and bad for the environment." Privately owned cars would be replaced by a "constant roving fleet of electric cars."
A video posted by the GOP War Room shows Velshi asking Yang what measures he sees the world taking to fight climate change by 2050.
"You have this ability to envision the future, right, with your proposals on universal basic income. You've played the whole chess game out and you see what it looks like on the other end. Play the chess game out on climate change," Velshi said. "What does the world look like to you in 2050? What physically do you think we will do differently than we do today that will result in us fighting climate change?"
"Well I mentioned before that we might not own our own cars. Our current car ownership and usage model is really inefficient and bad for the environment," Yang said.
"You guys all probably agree with this because you're quite young," he told the Georgetown University crowd, adding an anecdote about driving a 1985 Honda Accord as a young man.
Yang then proposed an alternative to individuals owning their own cars.