Berkeley halts landmark natural gas ban after legal fight
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Berkeley halts landmark natural gas ban after legal fight

LA Times  

The city of Berkeley has agreed to halt enforcement of a ban on natural gas piping in new homes and buildings that was successfully opposed in court by the California Restaurant Assn. As part of an agreement last week to settle a lawsuit from the California Restaurant Assn., Berkeley agreed to immediately halt enforcement of its first-in-the-nation ban on installing natural gas piping in newly constructed buildings. California Federal court slows a California ban on natural gas appliances A three-judge panel sided with the California Restaurant Assn. against a Berkeley policy that ‘prohibits the installation of natural gas piping within newly constructed buildings.’ Farimah Faiz Brown, Berkeley’s city attorney, confirmed that the city has ceased enforcement of the ban, saying cities were “uniquely responsible for protecting their residents” from the climate-change harms posed by burning natural gas.

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History of this topic

EPA grants California authority to ban sales of new gas cars by 2035. Action faces reversal by Trump
3 weeks, 2 days ago

EPA grants California authority to ban sales of new gas cars by 2035. Action faces reversal by Trump

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday granted two requests from California to enforce strict standards for vehicle emissions, including a rule aimed at banning sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035. Gavin Newsom, who often touts California’s leadership on climate policy, said EPA’s approval of the advanced clean-cars rule was a vote of confidence in …

Editorial: Berkeley’s backtrack on gas ban won’t stop the electrification trend
9 months, 1 week ago

Editorial: Berkeley’s backtrack on gas ban won’t stop the electrification trend

LA Times  

The garage of an all-electric, solar powered home includes a battery storage system that can power the home during an outage and in the evenings when the cost of electricity from the grid is higher. Berkeley’s trend-setting 2019 ordinance banned gas piping in new buildings and was followed by dozens of other cities across the state that passed a range …

Opinion: California’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising — and we’re not even counting them all
1 year, 1 month ago

Opinion: California’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising — and we’re not even counting them all

LA Times  

California has committed to substantially reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045. But the California Air Resources Board recently released a preliminary greenhouse gas inventory suggesting the state’s emissions increased slightly last year compared with the previous year. California’s greenhouse gas inventory is likewise not just going in the wrong direction but also ignoring a lot …

California lawmakers OK bills banning certain chemicals in foods and drinks
1 year, 3 months ago

California lawmakers OK bills banning certain chemicals in foods and drinks

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers are working through hundreds of bills before the legislative session ends on Thursday. DISCLOSING FINANCIAL RISKS OF CLIMATE CHANGE The state Assembly approved a bill requiring companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose what financial risks climate change poses to their businesses and how they plan to address those risks. The bill was …

Editorial: New York banned gas from new buildings. Why not California?
1 year, 8 months ago

Editorial: New York banned gas from new buildings. Why not California?

LA Times  

More than 70 cities and counties in California have banned natural gas hookups in most new buildings, but the state has no statewide prohibition. New York made climate history last week, becoming the first state in the nation to pass a law banning natural gas in most new buildings. This is, after all, the state that’s declared itself a climate …

New York state becomes first to ban natural gas in new buildings
1 year, 8 months ago

New York state becomes first to ban natural gas in new buildings

LA Times  

Kathy Hochul called a budget banning natural gas hookups in new buildings a victory for energy affordability and emissions reduction. Shortly after a federal appeals court ruling threatened to hamstring Berkeley’s ban on new natural gas hookups, New York state has passed a budget barring gas appliances in new buildings. New York, which was America’s sixth-largest state consumer of natural …

Editorial: Polluters keep trying to block gas bans. California cities shouldn’t be deterred
1 year, 8 months ago

Editorial: Polluters keep trying to block gas bans. California cities shouldn’t be deterred

LA Times  

The California Restaurant Assn. A growing number of California cities and counties have wisely decided to stop expanding fossil fuel infrastructure by enacting policies to ban or discourage gas hookups in new construction or move to all-electric building codes. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the California Restaurant Assn., which filed …

Federal court slows a California ban on natural gas appliances
1 year, 8 months ago

Federal court slows a California ban on natural gas appliances

LA Times  

On appeal, a three-judge panel in San Francisco ruled that Berkeley could not preempt federal statutes in attempting to regulate the piping that carries natural gas into a building as a way to regulate the appliances themselves. A federal appeals court ruling Monday could hamper efforts by numerous cities and counties across California to ban natural gas appliances in new …

California moves to ban natural gas furnaces and heaters by 2030
2 years, 3 months ago

California moves to ban natural gas furnaces and heaters by 2030

LA Times  

California is moving to become the first U.S. state to phase out gas-fueled furnaces and water heaters in homes. Los Angeles and several other California cities have passed bans on a wider range of natural gas appliances in new construction, including stoves. The Golden State will ban the sale of all new natural gas-fired space heaters and water-heating appliances by …

California vows to ban gas-fueled cars. But its record on big climate promises is mixed
2 years, 4 months ago

California vows to ban gas-fueled cars. But its record on big climate promises is mixed

LA Times  

It was the sort of bold, climate-focused initiative that California has developed a reputation for — an effective ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. “The Air Resources Board’s greatest claim to fame before the climate era was its role in creating and enforcing the adoption of catalytic converters and other technologies to reduce the emissions of …

How California will fight Supreme Court’s limits on EPA climate enforcement
2 years, 6 months ago

How California will fight Supreme Court’s limits on EPA climate enforcement

LA Times  

Rob Bonta, right, shown speaking during a news conference in April in Playa Del Rey, described the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to curb the EPA’s ability to fight climate change as “misguided and gravely disappointing.” Many public officials and environmental advocates in California were dismayed by Thursday’s Supreme Court decision to limit federal authority on greenhouse gases from power plants, …

Should California ban gas in new homes? A climate battle heats up
4 years, 1 month ago

Should California ban gas in new homes? A climate battle heats up

LA Times  

An aerial view of Day Creek Villas, a zero-net-energy senior housing development in Rancho Cucamonga. The question is what the path looks like.” Everett Reid, assistant superintendent, views high-efficiency natural gas boilers at National Community Renaissance’s Day Creek Villas, a zero-net-energy senior housing development in Rancho Cucamonga. Building industry groups told state officials there’s usually no “significant difference” in cost …

California sued over climate change policy — by the nation’s biggest gas utility
4 years, 5 months ago

California sued over climate change policy — by the nation’s biggest gas utility

LA Times  

Southern California Gas Co. is taking its battle with state officials over climate change policy to court, arguing in a new lawsuit that the California Energy Commission has failed to promote natural gas as required by state law. A separate lawsuit was filed last week against the state’s Air Resources Board by the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, whose two …

Restaurant group sues over Berkeley’s natural gas ban
5 years, 1 month ago

Restaurant group sues over Berkeley’s natural gas ban

Associated Press  

BERKELEY, Calif. — Berkeley’s first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas in new construction may end up eroding the region’s reputation for fine and creative dining, according to a California trade association suing the city on behalf of restaurants. In its lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for Northern California, the California Restaurant Association argues that Berkeley bypassed state and federal …

California Restaurant Industry Group Sues Berkeley Over Natural Gas Ban
5 years, 1 month ago

California Restaurant Industry Group Sues Berkeley Over Natural Gas Ban

NPR  

California Restaurant Industry Group Sues Berkeley Over Natural Gas Ban Enlarge this image toggle caption Thomas Kienzle/AP Thomas Kienzle/AP The California Restaurant Association filed suit against the city of Berkeley Thursday alleging that its recently approved ban on the use of natural gas in newly constructed buildings will have "uniquely negative impacts" on the culinary community. In July, Berkeley became …

California ditched coal. The gas company is worried it’s next
5 years, 2 months ago

California ditched coal. The gas company is worried it’s next

LA Times  

Every day, millions of Californians burn a planet-warming fossil fuel to cook dinner, stay warm or take a hot shower. In a commission filing in May, the company wrote that the Sierra Club’s characterization of C4BES as a utility-created front group “insults the integrity of each of C4BES’s individual members and tarnishes their reputations.” Switalski, C4BES’s executive director, said in …

States sue Trump over blocking of California emissions rules
5 years, 3 months ago

States sue Trump over blocking of California emissions rules

Al Jazeera  

The US President has revoked the state’s authority to set emissions standards that are stricter than federal guidelines. A group of 23 states on Friday sued to block the administration of President Donald Trump from undoing California’s authority to set strict car pollution rules. California’s vehicle emissions rules, which are more stringent than the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency rules, …

Op-Ed: Berkeley banned natural gas. The rest of California should too
5 years, 5 months ago

Op-Ed: Berkeley banned natural gas. The rest of California should too

LA Times  

By becoming the first city in the nation to ban natural gas in new low-rise buildings and homes, Berkeley did something momentous in mid-July: It signaled the beginning of the end of the natural gas era. Natural gas is in fact the new coal; its greenhouse gas emissions overall in the U.S. have surpassed coal’s since 2015. The California Air …

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