Stove Wars: Gas strikes back

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Mar 26, 2024 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell Flames emerge from burners on a natural gas stove in Walpole, Massachusetts. | Steven Senne/AP The city of Berkeley, California, will repeal the nation’s first ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings — handing a major victory to the fossil fuel industry and imperiling similar restrictions in other U.S. cities. The decision ends a protracted legal battle between Berkeley and the California Restaurant Association, which sued in 2019 after the city banned gas infrastructure in most new buildings, write Jason Plautz and Niina H. Farah. The three judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the restaurant group, saying the policy is essentially an unlawful ban on gas appliances such as stoves. The decision could also apply to gas bans across the 9th Circuit, which includes nine Western states. In California, several cities, including Santa Cruz and Encinitas, have already rescinded their bans over the past year, while others like Sacramento have elected not to enforce them. The demise of Berkeley’s gas ban is the latest development in partisan fight over the country’s future energy mix. Republican lawmakers in more than 20 states have passed laws prohibiting a gas ban. And when one was floated at the national level, things got heated and … colorful. “If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!” Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas posted on X at the time. While the restaurant group cheered the repeal — and the likely demise of similar bans in 25 other California cities — advocates of the ban say it could prompt more legally durable policies. “It’s a huge bummer, but ultimately, it’s not going to stall the transition” away from fossil fuels, said Sage Welch with the climate and energy communications firm Sunstone Strategy. “There’s a lot of momentum to continue the transition of buildings.” Fossil fuel use in buildings accounts for a sizable chunk of U.S. emissions. Local and state leaders have also become increasingly concerned with associated health impacts, including on illnesses such as childhood asthma. About 100 cities have enacted some restrictions on fossil fuel use in buildings, and many cities are getting creative. Seattle, for example, requires large buildings to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury, but it does not ban any fuel source. In California, San Jose, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz have also adopted “fuel-neutral” ordinances in recent years that require higher energy performance regardless of power source. Whether the decision sets a precedent in the national battle over phasing out natural gas in buildings could soon become clear as a number of legal fights wind their way through the courts. In New York City, for example, construction trade groups sued over the city’s 2021 law that sets emission limits on appliances.   It's Tuesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net. And folks, let's keep it classy.   Access New York bill updates and Congressional activity in areas that matter to you, and use our exclusive insights to see what’s on the Albany agenda. Learn more.     Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Ben Lefebvre explains why oil and gas executives are equally unenthused about both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump heading into the election. The climate divide Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at an event in January. Microsoft is among 37 businesses airing concerns about climate advocacy by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. | Kin Cheung/AP The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a climate problem. At least 37 corporate members have privately rebuked the powerful trade association for opposing national efforts to slow rising temperatures, according to a review of business filings by Corbin Hiar and Timothy Cama. The growing divide between the Chamber and its membership comes amid sharpening scrutiny by lawmakers and investors around the trade association’s efforts to undermine policies that could force businesses to overhaul polluting facilities or build cleaner products. Power Centers Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with one of the bridge’s supports Tuesday in Baltimore. | Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner via AP Bridge collapse tests Biden agenda The catastrophic collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning triggered emergency life-saving efforts, snarled traffic and shipping in the busy port city and presented an election-year test for Biden and his team, write Robin Bravender and Mike Lee. “I’ve directed my team to move heaven and Earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” Biden said during an early afternoon press conference at the White House. Layoffs are coming Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp told an all-staff meeting Monday that the environmental group will begin layoffs this week, the organization confirmed to Zack Colman. The decision to let go of an unknown number of staff from its U.S. operations comes after EDF offered buyouts beginning late last year to navigate a funding crunch.   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     In Other News This is DeSantis' house: Florida is about to erase climate change from most of its laws. Climate migration: America’s climate boomtowns are waiting. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. A climate activist protests during a press conference at the annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting in Washington in 2022. | Francis Chung/POLITICO A potentially powerful constituency of older voters are spending their retirement getting into climate activism, providing a foundation of reliable support for Biden in some swing states. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed legislation to keep the state’s largest coal-fired power plant open, despite warnings the measure could run afoul of federal environmental laws. Beijing has formally accused the United States of violating global trade rules by excluding electric vehicles made with Chinese-sourced critical minerals from federal subsidies. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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