As part of its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, the State of California has announced its intention to reduce emissions of toxic substances in all aspects of the lives of its people.
To earn its image as a national pioneer in the fight against climate change, the state has set ambitious goals to replace oil, gas and coal with renewable sources (solar, wind, water) for the production and use of electricity.
Achieving the goals of the state will save countless human lives and it will create a possible future for our population.
By 2045, clarifies California Air Resources Board, government agency, the state “will cut fossil fuel (liquid oil) consumption to less than one-tenth of what we use today—a 94% reduction in demand. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% compared to 1990 levels. This will reduce smog-producing air pollution by 71%.”
And by 2030, in seven years, California aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels.
Weak link
However, there is a weak link in California’s race to slow climate change: pollution from residential and commercial buildings.
Over the past two decades, while emissions from transportation and power generation in the state have declined by more than 20%, pollution from residential buildings has stagnated. and en commercial buildings increased by 51%.
Together they are responsible for 25% of these emissions. And there is no easy way to reduce them.
Explains Laura Feinstein, Director of Sustainability and Resiliency Policy at San Francisco-based nonprofit SPUR. “Of all the major polluting sectors in California, commercial buildings are currently the furthest away from meeting the state’s emission targets.”…
He adds, “…gas appliances in California homes and buildings produce four times more oxides of nitrogen (NOx) than gas-fired power plants in the state, and about two-thirds more NOx than all passenger cars in the state.”
It looks like this: in all other areas of pollution control, California is making significant progress. But not in buildings.
“Building pollution is one reason California fails year after year to meet legally binding federal air quality standards that protect health.” Feinstein writes.
This is how our gas stove takes pride of place in environmental pollution.
The negative contribution of gas flaring to air quality and its harmful health effects is already well known.
For this reason, in 2021, Sacramento wanted to ban the construction of gas networks in new buildings.
State actions did not lead to a complete ban natural gas in new construction, which was proposed by environmental groups but included new requirements that make it easier to install solar panels and energy storage systems and make it harder to continue using the gas.
“Building electrification provides a low-cost, low-risk strategy to decarbonize buildings and achieve climate goals by 2030 and 2050,” the study says. submitted to the California Energy Commission.
This decision and the steps leading to its goal deserve our support. They are an important step in the right direction.
SoCalGas behind the scenes
But kitchen gas is not the enemy. Gas has no conscience, no memory, no money, no intentions.
Those who have it are those who profit from gas and therefore are trying to reverse history.
SoCalGas, a Sempra company, makes only one thing: gas. And she delivers it to 21 million Californians.
In its fight against replacing gas stoves, according to a recent Sacramento Bee study, confirmed elsewhere, SoCalGas does not follow the rules of the game.
The company has committed millions of dollars to slow the transition to a zero-emissions economy. SoCalGas, according to SacBee, “sought to engage Asian and Latin American restaurants, businesses and public figures as anti-electrification spokespersons.”
To do this, the paper adds, the utility company created the front organization Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions (C4BES) “to lobby government officials and government agencies, mostly for customer money.”
SoCalGas, says Bee, funded it false popular organization.
They claim that C4BES posed as a popular mass organization and tried to ensure that the positions of this organization are taken into account as if they came from consumers, which is not true.
In March of this year, C4BES was asked to be named as the official side The Public Utilities Commission is reviewing the future of gas use in the state.
In the statement, C4BES did not disclose any relationship with the utility company and never mentioned Southern California Gas.
The reason is that it’s not a grassroots group, but rather the brainchild of SoCalGas or Southern California Gas Co., says investigative journalist Michael Chlcik in Los Angeles Times.
Since then, the organization is gone.
Bring restaurants to the fore
In addition to C4BES and the successful move, Bee claims, SoCalGas has teamed up with a group that, for its own reasons, fears the consequences of electrification. California Restaurant Association (CRA).
Sempra and its subsidiaries SoCalGas and San Diego Gas & Electric’s CRA contributions increased from $174,594 between 2015 and 2018 to $1.8 million between 2019 and 2022, a tenfold increase.
CRA sparked a heated discussion about an unexpected kitchen tool: the wok. Restaurateurs argued that cooking traditional Chinese stir-fry is simply impossible without an open fire.
Therefore, he organized his opposition to cutting off gas from new buildings, which would lead to the closure of Chinese and other Asian restaurants. Thousands of years of culture are at stake, they say.
In 2019, the city of Berkeley passed the first nationwide ban on gas connections to most new buildings.
In this, Berkeley was a pioneer, as it has been many times in the history of the state. As of the beginning of this year, similar ordinances have been passed in 76 California cities. list published by the Sierra Club.
And this May, New York State became the first in the country ban gas stoves in the construction of new residential buildings.
The CRA had sued Berkeley a year earlier. The press release announcing the lawsuit said restaurants “rely on gas to cook certain types of food, whether it’s grilled meats, charred vegetables, or using the intense heat from a flame under a wok.”
In court, the CRA also argued that Berkeley’s ruling was contrary to federal energy law.
In April 2023, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, after initially dismissing the lawsuit and then rehearing it, ruled in favor of CRA and lifted Berkeley’s gas ban as a violation of federal energy law.
Here you can read judges’ arguments.
climate survival
The ruling threw cold water on the state’s drive to electrify local buildings.
Since then, no new city has joined the initiative, and the cities of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz have suspended their respective rules.
This ruling could now stymie clean energy policies across the country. The danger this poses to public health it’s concrete.
Culinary experts say the CRA’s statement about the need to cook with gas is not universally accepted. More and more professional cooks prefer electric or induction cookers. Included for woks.
Regarding these allegations, a spokesman for SoCalGas stated that “the improper disclosure of a standard disclosure agreement and other carefully selected material dating back several years is part of an ongoing effort by certain stakeholders to distort SoCalGas’ positions on public policy.”
fight for the future
Yes, that’s right, SoCalGas was fighting for its future. Even for your life. That’s not why he had to do it, lying to regulators and breaking ethical and other rules in the process, he said in 2019. Office of Public Defenders, an independent watchdog representing taxpayers in CPUC proceedings. (California Public Utilities Commission https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/)
Critics of SoCalGas in the Earthjustice and Sierra Club organizations say SoCalGas should not be able to spend shareholder or customer money to create a “separate” group to have a second vote.
To move closer to ambitious environmental targets, California’s goal is to upgrade all 14 million homes and 8 billion square feet of commercial space to clean energy. The path was opened by electric cars, which were originally reserved for the very rich and are only now reaching the middle class. Initiatives such as the one attacked by SoCalGas and others currently in the legislative process will give impetus to this crucial phase in fight for climate survival.
Source: La Opinion
David Ortiz is an opinionated and well-versed author, known for his thought-provoking and persuasive writing on various matters. He currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker, where he shares his insight and perspective on today’s most pressing issues. David’s unique voice and writing style make his articles a must-read for those seeking a different point of view.