The city of Berkeley, California, will repeal the nation’s first ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings — handing a major victory to the fossil fuel industry and imperiling similar restrictions in other U.S. cities. The decision ends a protracted legal battle between Berkeley and the California Restaurant Association, which sued in 2019 after the city banned gas infrastructure in most new buildings, write Jason Plautz and Niina H. Farah. The three judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the restaurant group, saying the policy is essentially an unlawful ban on gas appliances such as stoves. The decision could also apply to gas bans across the 9th Circuit, which includes nine Western states. In California, several cities, including Santa Cruz and Encinitas, have already rescinded their bans over the past year, while others like Sacramento have elected not to enforce them. The demise of Berkeley’s gas ban is the latest development in partisan fight over the country’s future energy mix. Republican lawmakers in more than 20 states have passed laws prohibiting a gas ban. And when one was floated at the national level, things got heated and … colorful. “If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!” Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas posted on X at the time. While the restaurant group cheered the repeal — and the likely demise of similar bans in 25 other California cities — advocates of the ban say it could prompt more legally durable policies. “It’s a huge bummer, but ultimately, it’s not going to stall the transition” away from fossil fuels, said Sage Welch with the climate and energy communications firm Sunstone Strategy. “There’s a lot of momentum to continue the transition of buildings.” Fossil fuel use in buildings accounts for a sizable chunk of U.S. emissions. Local and state leaders have also become increasingly concerned with associated health impacts, including on illnesses such as childhood asthma. About 100 cities have enacted some restrictions on fossil fuel use in buildings, and many cities are getting creative. Seattle, for example, requires large buildings to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury, but it does not ban any fuel source. In California, San Jose, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz have also adopted “fuel-neutral” ordinances in recent years that require higher energy performance regardless of power source. Whether the decision sets a precedent in the national battle over phasing out natural gas in buildings could soon become clear as a number of legal fights wind their way through the courts. In New York City, for example, construction trade groups sued over the city’s 2021 law that sets emission limits on appliances.
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