In 2019, Berkeley showed incredible leadership by passing a policy to keep gas out of new buildings – cutting climate emissions and making Berkeley safer for kids and their families.
Berkeley’s policy inspired a whole movement – and also backlash, including a lawsuit that a Southern California gas utility appears to have helped fund.(1) Eventually it was ruled that Berkeley’s approach to cleaner and safer buildings was preempted by federal law.
But Berkeley is not giving up on its goals and there’s more than one way to make buildings clean and safe.
Local governments are looking at – and passing – new approaches, like regulating nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution. NOx is produced when we burn methane in our appliances, and it damages health, including causing asthma in kids. Limiting it helps health and climate. Another approach is raising energy efficiency requirements to strongly encourage, but not require, high efficiency all-electric construction.
A Council committee will discuss options for clean and safe policies for new buildings on July 8. This is a critical time for Councilors to hear you want them to move forward.
This is a critical time for Councilors to hear you want them to move forward.
Send your message now!
(1) SoCalGas Helped Bankroll Law Firm That Challenged Berkeley Natural Gas Ban
(2) Building electrification and the Berkeley decision
