New York’s Hochul Proposes Banning Gas in New Buildings

(Bloomberg) -- Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing to make New York the first state in the US to ban natural gas heating and appliances in new buildings, the latest salvo in an ongoing nationwide fight over the fuel.

Hochul called during her state-of-the-state address Tuesday to ban the use of fossil fuels by 2025 for newly built smaller structures and 2028 for larger ones. New York would also prohibit the sale of any new fossil-fuel heating systems starting in 2030.“Buildings are the largest source of emissions in our state, accounting for a third of our greenhouse gas output,” Hochul said in her prepared remarks.  

Cities including New York and San Francisco have enacted bans on gas appliances in new buildings in recent years, casting them as a way to fight climate change and protect public health, since they produce methane and other pollutants inside homes. California is weighing its own statewide proposal that would take effect in 2030.

The gas industry and its political allies have pushed back, with more than 20 states implementing laws that prevent their cities from adopting such bans. 

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The language of Hochul’s proposal appears to include multiple fuels, including gas, propane and oil. The idea of ending fossil fuel use in low-rise residential buildings was part of a broader global warming plan issued in December by the state’s Climate Action Council. The plan’s recommendations, however, weren’t legally binding. Also Read:  Big Growth in Electric Heat Set Stage for US South Blackouts Hochul on Tuesday also called for creating a cap-and-trade system for reining in greenhouse gas emissions across New York State’s economy.

Such systems place a declining annual limit on greenhouse gas emissions and force companies to buy permits for each ton they emit. New York already belongs to a limited cap-and-trade system, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which covers emissions from power plants across several northeastern states.

California so far is the only US state to use this kind of carbon market to control emissions across most of its economy, and so far, the Golden State’s system has had limited success. Hochul said proceeds from the program would be invested in other efforts to cut greenhouse gases, with the goal of lowering the state’s emissions 40% by 2030 and at least 85% below 1990 levels by 2050.

(Added quote from governor in the third paragraph, details of cap-and-trade system starting in the seventh paragraph.)

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