The city of Berkeley, California, is proposing a landmark tax on large buildings that use natural gas, which would provide funding to electrify older homes and businesses.
As Canary Media reported, the strategy was suggested to reduce the city's pollution after courts scrapped a first-of-its-kind ban on natural gas hookups. In November, Berkeley residents will vote on a proposal to institute a tax on owners of buildings measuring 15,000 square feet or larger based on their natural gas usage.
According to city officials, the measure would apply to an estimated 600-plus buildings throughout the city and generate nearly $27 million in annual tax revenue; 90% of the funds would be allocated to energy-efficient upgrades in homes and buildings, and the rest would go toward administrative needs.
Low-income communities would get priority as beneficiaries of the ruling, with union workers having first dibs on retrofit projects funded by the tax. If passed, the measure would go into effect Jan. 1, 2025, and expire by 2050.
As Canary Media explained, the tax would be the nation's first on a specific type of fuel used in buildings. Amy Turner, the Cities Climate Law Initiative director at Columbia University, told the outlet it's a "novel approach."
Other cities, such as New York City and Seattle, have building pollution requirements and can fine noncompliant property owners, but the policies aren't directed at just one energy source.
Not only would the measure slash planet-warming pollution from dirty fuels and make the air healthier for residents, but officials said it's expected to bring jobs to the area and encourage the construction of energy-efficient new buildings.
Other cities, such as Los Angeles, are also taking action to cut carbon pollution by outlawing natural gas in newly constructed buildings. Last year, New York became the first state in the country to ban natural gas stoves and furnaces in most new buildings.
As Canary Media explained, Berkeley was the first city in the nation to ban gas hookups in new construction. Even though the decision was reversed earlier this year, climate advocates are hopeful their latest strategy will stick.
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"People look to Berkeley as a bellwether for progressive climate action as well as an incubator of ideas," Daniel Tahara, a member of Fossil Free Berkeley — the environmental group that proposed the tax — told Canary Media. "Someone needs to be putting ideas out there, and we think that has been and can continue to be Berkeley."
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