Kayah Swanson, 720-460-7785, kayah.swanson@sierraclub.org
Sage Welch, 615-715-6714, sage@sunstonestrategies.org
Chloe Zilliac, 650-644-8259, chloe@sunstonestrategies.org
BERKELEY, CA. – At a press conference on the steps of Berkeley City Hall, Councilmember Kate Harrison, flanked by lawmakers, community members, and public health and environmental advocates, outlined a path forward for the city’s building electrification ordinance after a misguided challenge from the Ninth Circuit Court. Councilmember Harrison authored the 2019 ordinance, which phases out gas piping in new buildings. But after a lawsuit and campaign partially bankrolled by SoCalGas using ratepayer funds, two Trump-appointed judges found the ordinance was preempted by federal energy policy from the 1970s.
“We now know that this lawsuit is being financially supported by the fossil fuel industry, who will stop at nothing to slow the transition to clean energy homes,” said Berkeley City Councilmember Kate Harrison. “On behalf of our residents, and people in our state, our nation, worldwide, and future generations, I intend to ask our City Attorney to pursue a rehearing en banc before the Ninth Circuit. I expect we will collectively mount a robust legal defense.”
Despite the ruling, Berkeley’s ordinance remains in effect. The Ninth Circuit’s ruling is not final and the litigation challenging the ordinance is still developing. No injunction or stay of the ordinance has been issued.
“This ruling, if it stands, will have a chilling effect on local governments’ abilities to protect residents from the dangers and public health impacts of fossil gas,” said Nihal Shrinath, attorney with the Sierra Club’s building electrification campaign. “A conservative 9th circuit panel fundamentally misapplied a 1970s law to 21st century solutions. They relied on dated legal notions to find that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, intended to make appliance efficiency standards consistent, somehow preempts cities from taking action on local pollution and climate change.”
Although the recent court decision strikes at critically important state powers, there remain multiple avenues to phase out fossil gas in buildings. 26 organizations, including Sierra Club, are petitioning EPA Administrator Michael Regan to protect communities from fossil gas in buildings by setting zero-NOx standards for residential and commercial appliances.
“The nation's largest gas utility, SoCalGas, tried to bill ratepayers over $1 million for the legal research underlying this lawsuit. These aggressive legal tactics are designed to disempower and chill local action on climate. In the waning years to stave off the worst of climate change, we cannot afford to let the fossil fuel industry take tools for progress away. We need all hands on deck to keep building momentum,” said Sasan Saadat, senior research and policy analyst at Earthjustice.
The city is preparing to mount a strong legal defense. Advocates are confident that sound legal reasoning will prevail and this dubious decision will be vacated when reheard by the en banc court.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.