By Josh Lee and Melissa Yu
Great news! San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has introduced a draft All-Electric Ordinance that could pave the way for San Francisco’s gas-free future. This is a big step in the right direction, with benefits to health, safety, resilience, and equity. The Sierra Club supports this legislation and is pleased that it has been introduced and is progressing. However, there are some key provisions in the proposed ordinance — San Francisco’s first major climate policy since our climate emergency declaration — that could cause it to fall short in adequately and equitably protecting city residents.
The first flaw in the ordinance is a blanket exemption for newly constructed commercial restaurants through 2022. The exemption does nothing to help an industry that has been particularly hard-hit by COVID-19. Rather, it is a gift to new restaurant developers that leaves restaurant workers to bear the harmful emissions and excessive heat of gas-powered appliances. Fossil fuel appliances release dangerous toxins, leading to air pollution levels in some homes that would be illegal if measured outside. Study after study finds air pollution hurts everyone, but people of color and low-income families bear the brunt of fossil fuel pollution — more heart attacks, lower life expectancy, and higher risk of death from COVID-19. This is felt particularly by our essential restaurant workers who work in hot, tight quarters with poor ventilation.
The ordinance also proposes a process for granting exemptions that is not adequately transparent to the public. As written, little consideration of the public interest is to be considered and the language is such that developers could give a wide variety of reasons for an exemption that range in legitimacy and which would be decided behind closed doors. The current language allows for exemptions based on “technical or physical infeasibility” which is really more of a political question and one that must be discussed and decided in a public forum. We cannot trust such a vital process to be left in the hands of a department that has been rocked time and time again with corruption scandals. We must demand third-party oversight and a process free from the potential of corruption.
Building all-electric from the ground up is cheaper. Ensuring that all new construction is built without gas hookups will help San Francisco developers build more quickly and affordably. A recent analysis by the Statewide Utility Codes and Standards Team found that building all-electric reduced construction costs on average $5,000 for single-family homes and over $2,000 per unit in a multi-family building.
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) lives are at risk in all spaces of our society, whether it is being shot in your own bed or the fact that COVID-19 disproportionately affects communities of color. We must take bold action to protect Black lives. This All-Electric Ordinance is a great starting point, but it must protect all of us and not allow for exceptions to be granted behind closed doors.
What You Can Do:
Take action to help our city electrify justly: Tell the San Francisco Commission on the Environment to close the loophole and institute independent oversight in order to ensure this policy is truly comprehensive and protects all of us.
We also urge you to give public comment on San Francisco's All-Electric building ordinance at the virtual meeting of the City's Commission on the Environment on July 20th at 5:00 PM. This meeting will take place virtually via Zoom. The agenda will be posted here 72 hours before the meeting, including instructions for joining the video conference. We will also send instructions to join the meeting and talking points to people who RSVP here.