Californians are Kicking Gas out of Homes and Buildings
Summit Update: Driving the California Deal
Pressing CARB for a Stronger Clean Truck Rule
Californians are Kicking Gas out of Homes and Buildings
By Lauren Cullum
When most people think about climate pollution, they think power plants, industry, and trucks. However, a quarter of California’s greenhouse gas emissions are from homes and buildings, the majority of which come from onsite combustion of gas for heating.
In fact, the amount of gas combustion in buildings is greater than that of all of the power plants in the state. What’s the solution? Electrification.
The California Energy Commission recognized this and stated in last year’s Integrated Energy Policy Report that “building electrification is the most viable and predictable path to zero-emission buildings.” Decarbonizing buildings requires shifting from using gas to using high-efficiency electric appliances. This includes electric water and space heating equipment, powered by electricity from clean renewable sources like wind and solar.
Last month, the California Public Utilities Commission voted to revise the “three-prong test”, a decades-old policy that discouraged programs that substituted electricity for gas. This revision will allow the state’s $1 billion annual budget for energy efficiency to go towards building electrification efforts, including rebates for electric space and water heating equipment.
The revision may also encourage utilities to offer incentives for residential fuel substitution measures as early as this fall/winter. This change is a huge step in moving the state away from gas.
In addition, local governments across California are looking to adopt bans on methane gas and mandates for new buildings to be all-electric. In July, Berkeley’s City Council passed the nation’s first ordinance banning methane-gas hookups in new buildings beginning January 1, 2020.
This month, the City of San Luis Obispo adopted its own new policy which will encourage all new buildings to be all-electric. And more than 50 other cities and counties are following suit, exploring the use of local “reach” building codes (a local building energy code that “reaches” beyond the state minimum requirements) to require all-electric new construction.
Unsurprisingly, the oil and gas industry has been fighting back. It has created misleading front groups, such as Californians for Balanced Energy (C4BE), and misinformation campaigns to try to stop these ambitious electrification goals.
Kicking methane out of our homes and buildings will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet our state’s climate goals. It will also reduce health-threatening indoor air pollution and outdoor air pollution in the community. Finally, kicking out gas will improve safety by reducing the risk of gas fires.
Summit Update: Driving the California Deal
Over more than two decades, Sierra Club California and our allies have been pushing state agencies and the legislature to accelerate adoption of zero-emission vehicles.
We’ve seen progress. There are nearly 50 models of zero-emission light-duty vehicles in the California market, and more are expected. The driving range on a charge for some models is as long as with many gasoline vehicles.
And the technology is no longer restricted to light-duty vehicles. A robust market for electric transit buses is blossoming here, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks are now commercially available in electric models.
Are all of those new vehicles leading to the clean air goals we’ve set as fast as we need those goals to be met? Are new, family-supporting jobs coming along with these new vehicle types and technologies? How can we do better in California?
A panel of experts from environmental, environmental justice and labor organizations will consider these and other questions during a session about transportation and the California deal at Sierra Club California’s one-day Summit in Pasadena on October 26.
The Sierra Club California Summit is a new format and new venue for our annual meeting. We’ll be addressing a specific theme, the California Deal and how we can improve it. Panelists and audience members will have opportunities to share ideas about transportation, water policy and the California Deal generally.
Join us to learn about ways you can help push the California Deal to be bigger, bolder and better.
Tickets to attend the summit are just $20 in advance and the fee covers lunch and a reception. You must register in advance to attend. Reserve your space now because seating is limited.
Pressing CARB for a Stronger Clean Truck Rule
By Katherine Garcia
Members of the Advanced Clean Truck Rule Coalition
The California Air Resources Board, the agency that regulates tailpipe emissions, has a chance to significantly change the pollution profile of heavy-duty trucks sold in California.
Unfortunately, the agency’s latest version of a regulation directing manufacturers to sell zero-emission trucks in California falls well short of what’s needed.
More than 90 percent of Californians live in areas impacted by unhealthy levels of air pollution. A significant portion comes from the transportation sector—and state transportation emissions continue to rise.
Californians, and especially disadvantaged communities located in diesel pollution zones, are burdened with harmful health impacts including increased risk of asthma attacks, lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes and premature death.
While trucks and buses are only about 7 percent of all vehicles in California, they produce 40 percent of smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions.
For the last two years, the California Air Resources Board has been preparing the Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) Rule to help cut truck emissions by establishing sales targets for zero-emission trucks. The idea behind this rule is that the state can spur the clean truck market and improve air quality by adopting a landmark, technology-forcing policy.
Unfortunately, CARB’s current proposal for the rule barely scratches the surface of what’s possible. The rule underestimates the number of zero-emission trucks that can be deployed. Our analysis of the proposal shows that this rule would result in about 5 percent of the medium- and heavy-duty trucks on the road to be zero-emission by 2030. This is unacceptably low.
Sierra Club California and a coalition of allies consisting of environmental justice, health, labor, and environmental organizations are calling for a stronger ACT Rule because the sales targets fall short of what is needed.
Our coalition’s analysis shows that the technology is ready to meet sales targets that would ensure at least 15 percent of the trucks on the road by 2030 will be zero emission. We argue that CARB’s plan should create a trajectory achieving 100 percent of new truck sales in the early 2030s be zero emission so that the vast majority of trucks on the road by 2040 are zero emission.
Achieving these targets is essential for cleaning up California’s air and reaching climate emissions reduction goals.
Another draft of the regulation will be released in October. Look out for a Sierra Club California alert soon so you can send a message in support of a stronger rule.
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