Posted on 12/24/2019 5:06:42 AM PST by karpov
Liberals use California’s stringent environmental regulations to block new oil and gas pipelines and electric power plants. So it’s no small irony that businesses are now invoking the same rules to block local bans on new natural gas hookups.
Earlier this year the city of Berkeley prohibited natural gas connections in nearly all new buildings, while Windsor in Sonoma County banned natural gas in new low-rise residential buildings. Liberal groups are urging other cities to do the same, though switching to electric appliances would cost about $7,200 and increase energy bills by an average $388 per year.
It also creates conundrums for businesses. The California Restaurant Association notes in a lawsuit against Berkeley’s natural-gas ban that “losing natural gas will slow down the process of cooking, reduce a chef’s control over the amount and intensity of heat, and affect the manner and flavor of food preparation.”
The restaurant group claims that the Berkeley City Council circumvented a state law requiring cities to obtain approval from the California Energy Commission for energy-efficiency standards more stringent than the state’s. The law requires cities to submit their findings on the “cost effectiveness” of their proposed standards, but that’s hard to show given how much more expensive electric appliances are.
Separately, Sonoma County developers are challenging Windsor’s ban under the California Environmental Quality Act, which requires an environmental impact report including notice and comment for almost any local government action. Windsor simply declared its natural-gas ban exempt from the law because it is “more protective of the environment than State Standards”—end of discussion.
But as one developer argues, Windsor failed to consider “whether the existing electrical grid is sufficient to satisfy the demand of all new construction under a 100% electricity standard,” which the state has mandated for 2045.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The US is one election away from this catastrophic nonsense going nationwide.
These morons are going to create a lot of energy poverty via brain dead policy before it is over. The Germans have led the way on this. Lots of articles about this:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=german+energy+poverty&t=ipad&ia=web
DemocRATS keep making these Hellholes. No wonder the young flee.
Not to mention...
We've all seen how reliable the electric power supply in Kalifornia can be...when it's not starting forest fires and burning down your house.
California Chaos: Gov. Gavin Newsom grapples with wildfires, blackouts and more (that is his fault)
“The US is one election away from this catastrophic nonsense going nationwide.”
THE ABSOLUTELY SCARIEST PART!!!
(YES, I’M YELLING!)
What really grabbed libs’ attention with the blackouts was being unable to recharge their electric cars.
Years ago a friend described how she had bought a small house in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and in her neighborhood were some abandoned homes. They’d been bought by like-minded people who hadn’t realized how expensive electric heat is; there were no gas lines, and oil deliveries were difficult in the snow.
The push to nationalize many of the leftist policies is to prevent businesses and productive people from simply fleeing to more business-friendly states; if they nationalize their policies, we’d have nowhere to go.
“We’ve all seen how reliable the electric power supply in Kalifornia can be...when it’s not starting forest fires and burning down your house.”
California imports 26% of its electricity from other states. 46% of the electricity produced inside the state comes from natural gas. Without the ability to import fossil fuel generated electricity from other states, California would be toast, especially as it moves away from natural gas and to more wind and solar generation.
I would love to see the surrounding States decide they needed all their resources, electricity, water, gas for their population and cut off California.
Make them create their own energy and water .
Neofascism = Neocommunism
These enviro-wackos are manic in there fervor to fix the planet. Tilting at windmills.
With such an ignorant and deceivable majority, States would soon run to ruin were it not that there are limitations, beyond which the folly and ambition of governors cannot go. Things have their laws, as well as men; and things refuse to be trifled with.
Property will be protected. Corn will not grow, unless it is planted and manured; but the farmer will not plant or hoe it, unless the chances are a hundred to one, that he will cut and harvest it. Under any forms, persons and property must and will have their just sway. They exert their own power.
The US is one election away from this catastrophic nonsense going nationwide.
—
Which Trump should eagerly point out in the coming campaign.
“Society always consists, in greatest part, of young and foolish persons. The old, who have seen through the hypocrisy of courts and statesmen, die, and leave no wisdom to their sons. They believe their own newspaper, as their fathers did at their age.”
Our adult sons have never subscribed to any newspaper, local or regional since they left home as adults and able to take care of them selves and their family. They are in their early 50’s. While growing up, they scanned the sports page, comics and movie list in the newspaper.
They don’t watch the local news or national tv news. They get the police warnings on Nexle and weather reports/warnings from Underground Weather.
With such an ignorant and deceivable majority, States would soon run to ruin were it not that there are limitations, beyond which the folly and ambition of governors cannot go. Things have their laws, as well as men; and things refuse to be trifled with.
Why would they switch to inefficient electricity? Maybe they think they can burn CO2 to make electricity? Or water?
Years ago a friend described how she had bought a small house in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and in her neighborhood were some abandoned homes. They’d been bought by like-minded people who hadn’t realized how expensive electric heat is; there were no gas lines, and oil deliveries were difficult in the snow.
A lot of those homes are summer homes/vacation homes so the electric heat is rarely used or just on in the fall or spring.
I think the fundamental problem is that the left doesn’t really approve of any energy use at all. They hate nuclear, fossil fuels are right out, dams need to be torn down so that fish can go back up stream to spawn. What does that leave us? Wind and solar. Solar works less than half of the time, works less in winter when energy is handy and wind isn’t all that reliable. But the two can generate enough power for the elite. The rest of us can huddle in the cold and dark.
I understand; I should have been more clear. These were small year-round houses (so after paying for electric heat one winter, the owners walked away from them); they called them “walk-aways”.
They fervently believe in solartopia.
Kurt Schlicter’s fictional novels are becoming more real with each passing day.
Southern CA gets a pretty big portion of its power from the Hoover dam. Lots of water from the Colorado river also.
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