“Pseudoscience is like a virus. At low levels, it’s no big deal, but when it reaches a certain threshold it becomes sickening.” – Phil Plait
More than three months after 17,000 homes, businesses and other structures were destroyed in California’s Santa Ana driven Altadena and Palisades fires, the victims of these tragic fires are facing the arduous task of rebuilding or relocating. Now that the burned debris has been removed from the lots, Los Angeles city and county have started issuing building permits. But as anxious as these former residents are to restart their lives, they are facing many obstacles to start over.
Hundreds of homeowners have sought city or county approval for permits to repair or rebuild, yet few have gotten the green light. They’ve found they can’t afford to rebuild due to the state’s strict new building codes and climate laws. Many homes were built before earthquake and climate codes were adopted. Most victims were unaware they had to rebuild under such costly restrictions.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James
California has the most aggressive and restrictive climate laws in the United States. These laws aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transition to clean energy, and protect communities from the effects of climate change. California enacted AB32 in 2006, which mandated a 15% reduction in emissions by 2020. It included reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels.
While California Gov Gavin Newsom suspended the permitting and review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Coastal Act to facilitate rebuilding, his executive order only removed one minor fly in the ointment to help displaced homeowners navigate all of California’s red tape for those who need to completely rebuild from the foundation up to the roof.
Among the annoying decisions homeowners face is whether to rebuild with all-electric appliances or re-install those running on gas. California’s desire is to transition from natural gas to electric, so climate activists are leaning heavily on homeowners to ditch gas for electricity. But requiring all electric homes from people who had their lives upended by a wildfire is going to be a challenge.
“Yes, I do have a political agenda. It’s to have as few regulations as possible.” – Dan Quayle
One Altadena resident told an ABC news reporter he has questions before deciding to rebuild all-electric. He wonders where electricity powering the grid comes from and how climate-friendly it is. Federal data for 2023 shows about 60% of the state’s electricity came from zero-carbon sources. He also questions the benefits of switching to electricity and how he will adapt to that change.
The California Air Resource Board passed legislation to outlaw new natural gas heaters by 2030. In addition, the rule requires that only zero-emission appliances, such as heat pumps, can replace old furnaces and heaters once the gas appliance ban takes effect. This is part of a larger statewide plan to control emissions to meet future federal “70 parts per billion, eight-hour ozone” standards.
Los Angeles recently approved a gas appliance ban for new construction, requiring only electric stoves, water heaters, furnaces, and clothes dryers. Similarly, San Francisco regulators approved a ban on new home furnaces and water heaters that rely on natural gas. This ban does not, however, apply to gas stoves – yet. Berkeley enacted a gas stove ban in 2019, the first city in the country to do so.
“Government control means uniformity, regulation, fees, inspection, and compliance.” – Tom Graves
Critics of all-electric appliances raise the objection that the state lacks the electrical transmission and infrastructure to fully accommodate the transition to all-electric appliances in commercial and residential buildings. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles has also stated that their researchers have reached the same conclusion and are totally opposed to the gas appliance ban.
The American Gas Association is opposed to any gas appliance ban and is prepared to lobby against any federal or state that introduces legislation to ban appliances that run on natural gas.
During the progressive reign, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced two bills, the Save Our Gas Stoves Act and the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act to block any new laws that restrict or ban gas stoves. The Lower Energy Costs Act was passed in the House in response to a federal Department of Energy standard for both electric and gas cooking tops. That bill effectively ruled that over half the gas stoves in use today are out of compliance. President Joe Biden vetoed the measure.
For the past decade, cities and states have been in a culture war over, of all things, gas stoves. It’s a snaky battle that tells us a lot about how the next phase and efforts to tackle the climate crisis may play out. The gas stove soap opera began when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that gas stoves are a “hidden hazard” and their sale should be banned in America.
This banning saga started after a study that found one in eight childhood asthma cases in the U.S. may be or not be due to the copious amounts of indoor air pollution emitted by gas stoves. This was not a study conducted by medical healthcare experts but green energy climate change scientists.
While environmentalists in blue states jumped on this study like a vulture on road-kill to promote their cause to ban all gas stove sales in the nation, the White House has ruled out a national ban on gas stoves. Yet anti-gas activists in some cities such as New York and Los Angeles started movements to block gas hookups in new buildings and homes. This shows the challenge of trying to alter people’s lives and force them into dealing with these questionable environmental crises.
Nobody can tell us how long we will be “cooking with gas” since so many environmental groups are lobbying for a federal gas appliance ban. While a commissioner with the Consumer Product Safety Commission proposed a gas appliance ban, there is no official action on the part of the agency. Whether this could result in delay or even reversal of the current gas appliance ban is uncertain.
The travesty of California’s green crisis is that they created it themselves. They took the demands of activist green politicians and ran with them, trying to out-do all other states in the union. Now they are taking advantage of homeowners who just faced a major financial loss, and twisting their arms to invest even more if they decide to rebuild their homes just as they were before the fire. You cannot make any major changes in structure or design of your home if you will not go electric.
The environmentalists goal is to make California a model for all America. But crying wolf to douse the flames of every environmental crisis with more regulation is backward logic.
“What we should all argue for is the use of freedom rather than having a monetary system with regulation domination that is run by a cartel and special interests – that is the kind of system we have today.” – Ron Paul
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
