General Category > Science, Technology and Knowledge

California Screamin’

(1/1)

rangerrebew:
California Screamin’
California’s headlong rush to renewables has resulted in soaring electricity prices –- up nearly 15% last year alone -- but the state’s CO2 emissions aren’t falling.
Mar 24

California policymakers are mandating renewables. Ratepayers are being mauled by huge price increases. But the state’s electric sector emissions aren’t falling. Graphic by Grant Chalmers from ElectricityMaps.org data.

Last week, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District approved new regulations that will ban the use of residential and commercial natural gas-fired water heaters and furnaces in 2027. The regulation, which only applies to new appliances, prohibits residents in the Bay Area from buying or installing gas water heaters starting in 2027. The prohibition on residential furnaces starts in 2029 and the ban on commercial water heaters begins in 2031.

In a March 15 press release, Philip Fine, the executive officer of the agency said the new “groundbreaking regulation will phase out the most polluting appliances in homes and businesses to protect Bay Area residents from the harmful air pollution they cause.” He also said the ban was justified because those appliances “significantly impact our air quality, resulting in dozens of early deaths and a wide range of health impacts, particularly in communities of color.”

The move is the latest example of how California policymakers are adopting a phalanx of regulations that are forcing residents to use electricity instead of natural gas. According to the Sierra Club, which has been leading the effort to ban the direct use of natural gas, 74 California communities have passed forced electrification measures since 2019. And these regulations are being approved at the same time electricity costs in the state are soaring. Two weeks before the BAAQMD passed its ban on natural gas appliances, the Energy Information Administration released data showing that California’s residential electricity prices jumped by 14.7% in 2022.

https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/california-screamin

Navigation

[0] Message Index