Democrats Want a Return
To The Dark Ages
Leftist loons in yoga pants want to sit around in the cold dark and read Chairman Mao
(Scientific American) - Cities in California and Massachusetts are advancing what has become the newest trend in the local fight against climate change: bans on natural gas hookups in new buildings.
In July, Berkeley, Calif., outlawed them. A handful of other California communities soon followed. Then, last week, Brookline, Mass., took up the cause. In a 200-3 vote at a town meeting—the form of citizen government employed by many New England towns—Brookline residents approved a plan to block gas hookups in new homes and in major renovations.
“We need to do something about climate change,” Werner Lohe, one of the measure’s sponsors, toldThe Boston Globe. “We need to stop burning fossil fuels inside our buildings. ... This is the first step in Brookline toward an all-electric, all-renewable-energy world.”
Berkeley and Brookline have a lot in common. Both are among the most liberal communities in overwhelmingly blue states. Both are well-educated and affluent.
Brookline’s vote nevertheless signals an important shift in local climate action. Where municipalities previously have focused on reducing emissions in electricity generation, attention is shifting toward the carbon footprint associated with heating and cooling buildings.
In Massachusetts, residential buildings account for roughly 15% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Commercial buildings represent another 9.5%. Power plants, by contrast, are responsible for almost 20% of Massachusetts’ greenhouse gases.
“If we are going to decarbonize the economy, we have to stop putting gas in new buildings now,” said Deborah Donovan, Massachusetts director at the Acadia Center, an environmental group. “Building stock built now will be us in 2050 when we need to be decarbonized.”
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