Berkeley Voters Reject Tax on Natural Gas Use in Buildings
- Ballot measure followed city’s failed natural gas ban
- Measure received less than one-third of the vote Tuesday
Berkeley, California
Photographer: Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Voters in climate-conscious Berkeley, California — the first US city to attempt a ban on natural gas use in new buildings — roundly rejected a measure that would have imposed a tax on the fuel.
The ballot measure was seen as another way to discourage gas use in buildings after Berkeley’s ban, passed by the city council in 2019, was struck down by a federal appeals court. Other cities, including Los Angeles and New York, imposed similar bans as a way to fight climate change, sparking a culture war about the role of the cooking and heating fuel. Many Republican-led states passed laws blocking local gas bans.