New York City is poised to bar most new buildings from using natural gas within a few years.
Climate activists from the #GasFreeNYC coalition and elected officials rally in City Hall Park on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, in New York. New York City lawmakers are poised to decide whether to prohibit most new buildings from using natural gas, a move that would make the nation's most populous city a showcase for a climate-change-fighting policy that has been both embraced and blocked around the country.
“This is a huge, huge step forward," said Alex Beauchamp of Food & Water Watch, an environmental group. He called the legislation “a real game-changer on the national scene." At the same time, states including Arizona, Oklahoma and Texas have barred cities from enacting such laws, saying that consumers should have their choice of energy sources. In Texas, the effort began before, but gained all the more steam after, a February storm spawned massive power outages that left many households shivering without electricity, heat or drinkable water for days.
Still, some building interests worried at a City Council hearing last month that banning new natural gas hookups could strain the electrical grid. It already struggles during heat waves in the city, sometimes resulting in sizeable neighborhood outages.