No city under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals—that is, in Western states like California and Washington— is supposed to ban natural gas. In April, the court rejected Berkeley, California’s law banning natural gas in new buildings including restaurants. But Seattle has passed a new law, anyway. (Berkeley is fighting the court’s decision.)
Akielly Hu reports in Grist that cities are finding “creative” ways to bypass the ruling.
“Cities and states including Seattle; Ashland, Oregon; and Washington state are sidestepping Berkeley’s legal challenges by finding creative alternatives to banning gas outright—including by setting emissions targets, updating building codes and restricting indoor air pollution.”
Seattle decided to upgrade its building code to make them free of carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050.
“Under the city’s Building Emissions Performance Standard, signed into law last week, all existing commercial and multifamily residential buildings over 20,000 square feet will need to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.”
H-T Canary Media.
Image by Steven Buissine for Pixabay.