State Senator Brian Kavanagh led a Monday rally of environmentalists at City Hall Park on Monday to urge passage of the All-Electric Building Act, a proposed law that he is sponsoring in the upper house of the State legislature. This measure would prohibit the issuance of permits for the construction of new gas-powered buildings starting in 2023, along with conversions of existing buildings starting next year, except in cases where builders or owners can demonstrate that “there are truly no feasible alternatives.”
“If we are serious about reducing the harmful effects of climate change, then we must take aggressive action to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in all sectors of our society and economy, especially within the building sector,” Senator Kavanagh said. “And we must stop adding infrastructure that requires fossil fuels.”
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that buildings account for 28 percent of the nation’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr. Kavanagh, who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, says his bill will help achieve the goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emission outlined in the 2019 New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which aims to bring the State to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He also contends that the measure will improve public health and indoor air quality, citing studies indicating that indoor gas appliances greatly increase the emission of both carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide within the home. Such exposures have been linked to higher risk of children developing asthma or related pulmonary illnesses.
“Total household electrification is our future, not only to meet our greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, but to achieve a standard of living that is healthier, more cost effective and efficient,” said Roger Downs, Conservation Director, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “Renewable-energy driven technology will soon heat and cool all our homes, dry our clothes, cook our food, charge our vehicles and power our lives. But we cannot make this transition if the state of New York continues to facilitate and subsidize new fracked gas hookups where we should be showcasing innovation and modernity.”
This development comes among a gradually rising tide of similar bills in other state legislatures, along with a backlash against such measures that is gathering momentum. The states of Washington and California have passed measures that echo Senator Kavanagh’s bill, while Massachusetts and Vermont are considering such laws. But the legislatures of 19 states have enacted laws that prohibit municipalities from adopting building codes that ban the use of natural gas in new or existing buildings.
On the global stage, the International Energy Agency in May urged decision-makers around the world to enact, no later than 2025, bans on the sale of furnaces that burn fossil fuels, and to begin phasing out the use of such machinery in existing buildings.
Locally, the New York City Council is considering an analogous measure, which would have a nearly identical impact. Intro 2317 (co-sponsored by Council member Margaret Chin, who represents Lower Manhattan) would “prohibit combustion [of fossil fuels for heating or cooking] in any new building or any building that has undergone a major renovation.” Similar local ordinances have been enacted San Francisco and Sacramento, along with a dozen-plus other California cities and towns, as well as in Seattle.
The Real Estate Board of New York, a trade association that represents building owners, has responded to the City Council measure by arguing that “developing sensible policies for reducing the use of fossil fuels such as natural gas in buildings is laudable, but requires serious planning and a data-driven approach to ensure they are achievable and will help reach our shared climate goals. This legislation ignores ongoing substantive discussions and instead puts forward a fundamentally flawed proposal that would upend the lives of millions of residents across New York City and significantly increase costs for homeowners and renters. Further, this proposal will not effectively reduce carbon emissions because the City’s electricity will continue to be sourced almost entirely by fossil fuels when this proposal would be implemented, as well as for several years thereafter.”
Matthew Fenton
