HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/1/2022 Item 7a, Christie
Delgado, Adriana
From:Santa Lucia Sierra Club <sierraclub8@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, January 31, 2022
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Re 2/1/22 meeting, Item 7.a, Study Session: Clean Energy Choice Program for New
Buildings – 2022 Strategic Direction
This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond.
Dear Mayor Stewart and Councilmembers,
The Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, is committed to
prioritizing electrification programs, including the development of policies that support an equitable path to
zero-emissions for all new construction and existing buildings, removing policy barriers to electrification at the
state and regional level, raising awareness on the negative impacts of gas pollution from buildings, and
advocating for workforce development and training programs that support a just transition from fossil fuel
jobs to positions in the clean energy sector.
Gas appliances like furnaces and water heaters in California’s homes and buildings are responsible for over 50
million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Burning gas in homes and buildings for heating and cooking
produces toxic air pollution like nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, and formaldehydes that are hazardous to
our health. Old, leaky gas infrastructure also increases the risk of fires, especially in earthquake and fire-prone
regions spanning the state. Gas rates are rising as the system ages and requires costly upgrades, making this
an important moment to shift from gas to more affordable clean energy.
High-performing and super-efficient electric appliances are available to replace all gas appliances. Outdated
policy hurdles that favor gas, powerful special interests, and a general lack of public awareness of the problem
have kept Californians locked into the gas system for too long. For California to achieve its air quality and
climate goals, we must move away from gas and start electrifying homes, schools, and businesses today.
We applaud San Luis Obispo for the step your Council took two years ago in implementing your Clean Energy
Choice Program for New Buildings, doing so in the face of an intimidation campaign by the gas industry aimed
at overwhelming communities with propaganda about the false benefits of fossil fuels.
As your staff review makes clear, however, the 2020 Clean Energy Choice Program was a first step, and the
next step is now required. Developers are continuing to opt for mixed-fuel projects in more than half of all
building permits submitted since the implementation of the Clean Energy Choice Program. To achieve your
goal of carbon neutrality, San Luis Obispo cannot continue to allow the option of fossil gas in new buildings.
Please join with the majority of California cities that have developed electrification policies and provide
direction to staff to remove the natural gas compliance pathway for new buildings in your local amendments
to the California Building Code.
1
Thank you for this opportunity to comment,
Andrew Christie, Director
Sierra Club - Santa Lucia Chapter
2