Free Republic

The Boston City Council has adopted a new state building code to disincentivize fossil fuel usage in new construction and large-scale renovation projects, the latest locality to take aim at natural gas appliances. The “Municipal Opt-in Specialized Stretch Energy Code,” which the city referred to as a “transformative green update,” passed 8-4 on Wednesday and will now be sent to Mayor Michelle Wu’s desk for her expected signature. The code, as noted by Boston Globe, amounts to a near outlawing of new fossil fuel-operated appliances like gas stoves and drying machines. It will impose costly, climate-friendly requirements on developers who...