Why we need to ban natural gas from buildings in New York State
I’ll never smoke in my apartment, but I’ve been polluting my home with gas cooking and heating my entire adult life. Rocky Mountain Institute’s 2020 ReportA research institute focused on sustainability has found that baking just one cake can push household nitrogen dioxide levels above World Health Organization guidelines.One A 2013 study in the International Journal of Epidemiology It was found that children living in households with gas stoves were more than 40% more likely to develop asthma due to pollution from burning gases.
While most people are concerned about the environmental benefits of building electrification, banning gas connections in new buildings would have significant health benefits.
photo: pixel
To avoid catastrophic climate change, we must achieve our Paris Agreement goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels.signed by President Biden Inflation Reduction Act In August, the United States came a step closer to that goal. But further action is needed, especially at the state level.
New York State can show national leadership by ending the burning of fossil fuels in its buildings. Fossil fuels burned in buildings account for about 13 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2021, New York City will become the largest city in the United States to ban gas connections in new buildings. From 2023, new buildings under seven storeys will not be allowed to use gas for cooking or heating, and from 2027 this will also apply to tall buildings. The Rocky Mountain Institute estimates this will reduce cumulative carbon dioxide emissions by 2.1 million tons by 2040, equivalent to the annual emissions of 450,000 cars.
The success of the New York City law has led to a similar proposal from New York State in 2021: All Electric Building ActIn 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a version of the bill in her January budget. However, the budget requires agreement between the governor, the Congress and the Senate. Assembly speaker Carl Hestie opposed the inclusion of a gas ban in the budget. When asked by The Bronx Times why, his communications director said, “As a general rule, policy is not included in our budget proposal.” However, the budget also includes other policy changes, including a commitment to 2035 Electrifying all school buses, Heastie is not against it.
While New York State’s natural gas ban failed, 20 other states successfully passed pre-emptive legislation preventing cities and counties from enacting such bans. Shortly after the first natural gas ban in Berkeley, California, in 2019, the American Gas Association drafted pre-emptive legislation, pushed by local members. Utah Representative Stephen Handy, who introduced a First Buy Act, said, “I never dreamed of it. Frankly, I learned about it from Dominion, my local gas supplier.”
Gas companies and politicians have defended the pre-emptive legislation over cost concerns and the need to give customers a choice of energy supply.
It’s the same tactic the tobacco lobby uses in the face of government regulation: shifting the public debate from health to freedom of choice. In New York, a Facebook ad run by a group called Energy Citizens asked: “Want Albany to choose your appliances?” The Petroleum Institute was established and funded to oppose oil and gas regulation.
When it comes to home gas connections, arguments about options are moot. Most people don’t have a choice of energy for heating and cooking — that choice is made when they build their home. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 25 percent of U.S. households already use electricity as their only source of energy. When most of us move into a new home, we just use the appliances that are already installed. And in areas that have successfully banned gas, the ban will only apply to new buildings. People who really care about gas can still choose to live where they were built before the gas ban went into effect.
Concerns about costs are understandable, but the policies in the Reducing Inflation Act have revolutionized the economy. Before the law was passed, the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy calculated that over the life of a device, Electric heat pump Cheaper than a gas heating system, but the upfront cost can be $2,800 to $9,000 higher. The Reducing Inflation Act includes tax credits (up to $2,000) and rebates (up to $14,000 per household) for heat pumps, and provides additional funding for energy efficiency and other forms of building electrification.
New York’s All-Electric Buildings Act must pass in 2023, given lobbyists’ unanimous opposition to the natural gas ban, the potential to reduce carbon emissions, and the need to create healthier homes for our families. You can help make this happen by calling the governor and your state senators and legislators to show your support. As Governor Hocher wrote in her State of the State address, we can “send a clear signal to the New York market, the nation, and the world that the future of buildings must be decarbonized.”
Thomas Turnbull is a student at Columbia University Master of Sustainability Management program.
