Eugene’s ordinance restricting gas hookups in new construction was set to be the state’s first — until a local utility and its allies launched a $1 million counterattack.
A federal appeals court on Monday overturned Berkeley, California’s first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas in new construction, agreeing with restaurant owners who argued the city bypassed federal energy regulations when it approved the ordinance.
A new California building code is a leap forward for reducing the use of natural gas, with rules that set a strong preference for electric heating in new construction.
An attempt to undo the nation's first ban on natural gas was defeated this week in federal court, blocking a challenge that could have threatened campaigns to restrict buildings' use of the fuel across much of the country.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, got a surprise warning as it considered a natural gas ban to reduce its climate impact, but that might not stop the city or its neighbors.
