New York has become the first US state to pass a law banning gas stoves and other fossil fuels in most new buildings in a victory for environmental activists.
The legislation adopted by lawmakers in the Democratic-run state legislature late Tuesday will require newly built homes to be all-electric* in three years’ time.
The move aims to tackle climate change by reducing New York’s dependence on natural gas. [emphasis, links added]
“Changing the ways we make and use energy to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels will help ensure a healthier environment for us and our children,” said state assembly speaker Carl Heastie.
The law, which could face legal challenges from the gas industry, will require solely electric heating and cooking in new buildings under seven stories from 2026.
For taller skyscrapers, the deadline is 2029.
Hospitals, critical infrastructure such as transportation, and commercial food establishments will be exempt.
The law will also not apply to buildings where the local grid is not capable of handling the load.
Existing buildings are also not affected by the legislation, meaning residents can keep the gas stoves they already have.
The appliances became an unlikely flashpoint in America’s bitterly partisan politics earlier this year when a federal official suggested the government might ban new gas stoves over concerns they cause harmful air pollution indoors.
Representatives from the fossil fuel industry and Republican allies slammed the comments by Richard Trumka Jr, a member of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the White House was forced to clarify that stoves would not be banned.
According to the U.S. Energy Department, 52% of households in New York State use natural gas for heating or cooking.
*The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 prohibits the implementation of state regulations that favor one type of fuel over another.
Top photo: Gov. Hochul (D) of NY cooks up a storm on her gas stove/Twitter.
Read rest at NewsMax
Banning new gas appliances in homes shows that the climate activists who are in power are incapable of thinking. Wind and solar will continue to supply a smaller percentage of the power grid’s need. When additional power is needed for the homes that have been mandated to be all electric, where will that power come from? The answer is scaling up the use of fossil fuels such as natural gas. This increases emissions. The most efficient way to use gas is to burn it at the point of use. Using gas to produce electricity at power plants involves energy loss in the generation and transport of the electricity.
Exactly. Natural gas is the best household fuel available.
Gov. Kathy Hochul looks familiar, but it took me awhile to place her. In the late ’60’s, Laugh In was a very popular weekly TV show. Lily Tomlin played a character named Edith Ann, a brat who sat in an out-sized rocking chair, stuck out her tongue and blew raspberries at the camera.
“Nobody told me that I shouldn’t paint the baby, so I did. phphphtt!”
You could equate that insolence to what Hochul is doing now. “I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to do insane stuff if I was elected. It’s on you”
Once again the Stupid Jackass Party(Liberal Democrats)wants to ban something over the most flimsy evidence and political reasons as well I just hope the Court steps and overturns this stupid ban
This is yet another example of politicians and their comrades entering into our homes and taking more control over our lives.
It won’t stop until we take action. We all get that opportunity every time we vote. So, next election, who are you voting for?