HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/1/2022 Item 7a, Mayer
Delgado, Adriana
From:Carmel Cotillions LLC <carmelcotillionsllc@comcast.net>
Sent:Monday, January 31,
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Electric New-Buildings Proposal
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Dear San Luis Obispo Council Members,
How I wish we had your activism here in Pebble Beach. Please proceed with removing gas as an
option for new building. Several reasons support your making this excellent choice.
Electric Houses are great for owners. Our house is all-electric with solar and battery backup in foggy
Pebble Beach and we LOVE it. The solar panels and batteries are silent and efficient. We never
worry about carbon monoxide. We have three electric cars that can heat up in the garage with the
door down on cold mornings. Were it not for the possibility that someone could someday park a gas
car in our garage, I don't see why we would need carbon monoxide detectors at all.
Electric buildings reduce a community's fire risk. When you use solar and battery backup, you greatly
reduce the stress on the grid, and create an option to use smaller, micro grids that reduce the risk of
fire by eliminating the need for major transmission lines, towers, and boosters.
Electric buildings avoid San Bruno type Explosions. A friend of mine lost her mother, brother, and
nephew when the house where she grew up exploded in San Bruno in 2010. Not long after that, a
house nearby in Carmel exploded when PG&E accidentally struck a gas line - yes, they struck their
own gas lines because many of the old pipes are not properly mapped. Fortunately, no one was in
the house so no one was hurt. The reality of San Bruno, however, is that each house became ground
zero because the explosion escaped through every end point of the gas line system: the water
heaters, the gas ranges/ovens, the fireplaces. There is no escaping such a danger if you have any
gas lines in your house.
Electric Buildings do not pollute. We know that extracting and transporting natural gas results in
methane leaks at the source and along the transportation system, and that methane is very
damaging to the climate. We also know that PG&E's famous chromium 6 leaks to water supply were
part of its natural gas transmission, made famous by Erin Brockovich.
Electricity requires no fracking. Fracking is polluting water supplies around the globe. Our
earthquake activity has greatly increased in the Salinas Valley since Monterey County permitted
fracking. We cannot extract, transport, and burn gas without dangerous toxins. We also cannot use
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localized natural gas systems; they require dependence on a utility, which we have permitted to
become a profit center serving shareholders rather than a public good for the community. Electricity,
however, can be cleanly, safely, locally produced. For new construction, it is easy to create clean,
efficient power as a public good for solid infrastructure rather than a private commodity for profit.
Please proceed with eliminating gas as an option for new construction. I only wish we could do so
here in Monterey County.
Sincerely,
Megan Mayer
Megan G. Mayer
P.O. Box 162, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
(949) 838-5896
chair@network4impact.net
www.network4impact.net
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