Berkeley’s gas ban was blocked in court. Now a new plan has emerged.
After the courts squashed its first-in-the-nation natural gas ban, the city of Berkeley, California, has emerged with a new strategy to curb the planet-warming fossil fuel: taxing large buildings that use it. On November 5, residents of the Bay Area city will vote on a ballot measure that proposes taxing the owners of buildings of 15,000 square feet or larger based on the amount of natural gas consumed each year. If passed, legal experts say this would be the first tax in the country to target the use of a specific fuel source for buildings. City officials estimate that the tax would apply to over 600 buildings in Berkeley and generate $26.7 million during its first year, an amount larger than the city’s annual sales tax revenue. Of those funds, 90 percent would go toward retrofitting homes and buildings in the city with electric HVAC and appliances, and 10 percent would go toward city administrative costs. In order to meet its climate goals, the U.S. needs to figure out how to shift all buildings from oil and gas to heat pumps and electric stoves, water heaters, and dryers. Governments around the country are exploring different ways to accelerate that switch — and while the tax proposal is Berkeley’s latest attempt, it’s not the progressive coastal city’s first. Five years ago, Berkeley introduced the nation’s first ban on hooking up gas in new construction. Praised as an innovative way to cut carbon emissions and reduce air pollution by environmental advocates, Berkeley’s gas ban inspired similar laws in dozens of California cities and kicked off a surge of building electrification policies in more than 100 local governments nationwide. But last year, the policy was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit following a lawsuit from the California restaurant industry. In January, the same court declined to revisit its decision, dealing a final blow to the city’s effort. Despite those legal woes, climate organizers say the city remains undeterred. “People look to Berkeley as a bellwether for progressive climate action as well as an incubator of ideas,” said Daniel Tahara, one of the lead organizers for Fossil Free Berkeley, the local group behind the ballot measure. “Someone needs to be putting ideas out there, and we think that has been and can continue to be Berkeley.” Tahara and others from Fossil Free Berkeley say that this year’s ballot measure was in part motivated by the defeat of the city’s gas ban, which was finally repealed in March. “A lot of momentum was lost statewide,” he said, as cities across California and other Western states rolled back their own gas bans in response.
After the courts squashed its first-in-the-nation natural gas ban, the city of Berkeley, California, has emerged with a new strategy to curb the planet-warming fossil fuel: taxing large buildings that use it. On November 5, residents of the Bay Area city will vote on a ballot measure that proposes taxing the owners…
After the courts squashed its first-in-the-nation natural gas ban, the city of Berkeley, California, has emerged with a new strategy to curb the planet-warming fossil fuel: taxing large buildings that use it.
On November 5, residents of the Bay Area city will vote on a ballot measure that proposes taxing the owners of buildings of 15,000 square feet or larger based on the amount of natural gas consumed each year. If passed, legal experts say this would be the first tax in the country to target the use of a specific fuel source for buildings.
City officials estimate that the tax would apply to over 600 buildings in Berkeley and generate $26.7 million during its first year, an amount larger than the city’s annual sales tax revenue. Of those funds, 90 percent would go toward retrofitting homes and buildings in the city with electric HVAC and appliances, and 10 percent would go toward city administrative costs.
In order to meet its climate goals, the U.S. needs to figure out how to shift all buildings from oil and gas to heat pumps and electric stoves, water heaters, and dryers. Governments around the country are exploring different ways to accelerate that switch — and while the tax proposal is Berkeley’s latest attempt, it’s not the progressive coastal city’s first.
Five years ago, Berkeley introduced the nation’s first ban on hooking up gas in new construction. Praised as an innovative way to cut carbon emissions and reduce air pollution by environmental advocates, Berkeley’s gas ban inspired similar laws in dozens of California cities and kicked off a surge of building electrification policies in more than 100 local governments nationwide.
But last year, the policy was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit following a lawsuit from the California restaurant industry. In January, the same court declined to revisit its decision, dealing a final blow to the city’s effort.
Despite those legal woes, climate organizers say the city remains undeterred.
“People look to Berkeley as a bellwether for progressive climate action as well as an incubator of ideas,” said Daniel Tahara, one of the lead organizers for Fossil Free Berkeley, the local group behind the ballot measure. “Someone needs to be putting ideas out there, and we think that has been and can continue to be Berkeley.”
Tahara and others from Fossil Free Berkeley say that this year’s ballot measure was in part motivated by the defeat of the city’s gas ban, which was finally repealed in March. “A lot of momentum was lost statewide,” he said, as cities across California and other Western states rolled back their own gas bans in response.