The Chicago City Council is mulling an ordinance that would ban the use of natural gas in most new buildings in a bid to “fight climate change.”
The proposal, dubbed the Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance (CABO), would set an emission standard effectively prohibiting natural gas via an unreachable standard. This would make the Windy City the latest blue city to prohibit future homes from using gas stoves. It would also pave the way for electric heating and appliances that reportedly emit lower greenhouse gases.
“This is a matter of real survival and the future of our city – and especially our economic future,” said Democratic Alderwoman Maria Hadden, who introduced the CABO. “We’re being forced in this direction [not only] by nature, but also by policy, by business and [by] industry. People are making these decisions because it’s economical, it’s healthier [and] it’s safer.”
Under the CABO, the combustion of any substance that emits 25 kilograms or more of carbon dioxide per million British thermal units of energy would be prohibited. According to the Gazette, New York City (NYC) enacted a similar measure in 2021. However, the CABO’s new emission standard provides exceptions for some buildings and equipment – such as hospitals, laboratories, backup generators and commercial cooking equipment.
Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of the Chicago-based nonprofit Citizens Utility Board (CUB), defended the ordinance. Citing a 2022 analysis commissioned for the Natural Resources Defense Council nonprofit, she said that Chicagoans could save roughly $11,000 to $24,000 over a 20-year-span if they ditch natural gas and go all-electric in their homes.
“[The] status quo with regard to heating in Chicago is unsustainable in almost every sense of the term,” Moskowitz told the Chicago Tribune. “People’s gas bills are already extremely high; the gas utility is trying to get rate increases; [and] people are paying a minimum of $50 a month before they even use any gas. We have vast swaths of the city structurally unable to afford their heating bills.”
Not everyone agrees with the ban
“Chicago joins a list of several other cities across the U.S. moving toward electric appliances and heat in new buildings to meet local, state and national climate goals. Cities such as NYC, Los Angeles and many smaller [counterparts] have passed ordinances that limit or prohibit natural gas use altogether in new buildings,” the Gazette pointed out.
Despite the reportedly “noble” goal of the CABO to “fight climate change,” many have expressed disagreement with the proposal. The American Gas Association (AGA) is one such entity, arguing that natural gas has been instrumental in the nation’s work to meet environmental and economic goals.
“From providing affordable energy to consumers to driving down emissions, the benefits this fuel has for our nation are tangible and impossible to ignore,” said AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert. “Any push to ban natural gas in Chicago would raise costs to consumers, jeopardize environmental progress and deny affordable energy to underserved populations.”
Chicago natural gas utility Peoples Gas called the ordinance a “terrible idea” for the Windy City. It explained that the CABO “would increase costs and risk reliability for everyone, especially during the coldest days of the year.”
The utility also argued that all-electric heating would cost Chicago residents twice more than what they would pay for natural gas. Emissions may also go up as renewable energy provides less than four percent of the city’s energy on any day.
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Its ok if Illinois bans the use of gas. They still have lots of members of the small hat tribe that can be used for fuel in the ovens.
Natural Gas or Methane is 100 times more green house gas then CO2 when released as gas. After burning is producing only vapor and CO2 needed by trees and oceans.
The green people my fellows are mostly ignorant on this, they believe what is been told by media.