20 red states blocked gas bans. Is New Jersey next?
An in-depth look at the fight to keep the Garden State warm without heating the planet.
Greetings from Astoria, Queens, where there is not enough housing unless you’re rich enough to afford the new luxury developments, which, as it happens, are pretty much the only thing anyone seems prepared to build around here.
I’m writing to you today to discuss the buildings two rivers away, in New Jersey, and how you keep them warm.
Earlier this year, state Sen. Vin Gopal, a powerful Democrat from the Jersey Shore, introduced legislation that would bar Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration from mandating buildings swap fossil-fueled heating systems for electric alternatives.
Since Berkeley, California, became the first U.S. city to ban gas hookups in new construction in 2019, several big cities have followed suit, including New York City.
But the backlash overtook the bandwagon. Some 20 red states have enacted laws barring municipalities from prohibiting gas. In each of those cases, the governor was on board. The New Jersey legislation would likely mark the first time state lawmakers restricted a governor’s powers over electrification.
Roughly 85% of New Jersey households depend on natural gas, fuel oil or propane for heating -- well above national averages. Yet the governor's "energy master plan," released in January 2020, is not exactly rushing any kind of electrification.
The only regulation on heating the Murphy administration has so far put out is one proposing to restrict permits on new fossil-fueled heating systems in large commercial buildings starting in 2025. Still, the industry has launched a scorched-earth campaign against it.
Central to the industry’s messaging is the idea that renewable natural gas -- methane captured from livestock manure or rotting trash -- could someday flow through utilities' gas lines, making moot the climate imperative for electrification. That fuel is an option today, but it's in extreme short supply.
In fact, no clear evidence exists that there will ever be enough RNG or synthetic natural gas (made with green hydrogen and captured CO2) to even make a significant dent in current demand for pipeline gas. Even a report signed off by top execs from Shell and BP suggested lower-carbon natural gas should be treated as a precious resource for aviation or industrial feedstocks.
That points to electrification doing the vast bulk of the work to decarbonize buildings.
There are fears electric bills that include heating will cost more than the sum of separate power and gas bills. It's not that straightforward. Electric prices are steadier, many electric heaters are way more efficient than gas furnaces, and gas prices could rise as the transition accelerates.
It's unclear what kind of assistance the state will offer to ensure the cost of going electric doesn't pinch the poor and elderly. Nor is it clear what kind of retraining or job guarantees gas workers may get. The bill, Gopal told me, is aimed at raising those concerns.
But critics of the bill say it’s redundant – New Jersey’s constitution gives the bicameral legislature the right to veto any executive-branch policy by a simple-majority vote, so anything egregious could be easily halted. And other unions, meanwhile, are betting on the state’s clean-energy industry to be a future source of stable, good-paying jobs.
There’s more nuance and detail in the actual story, which you can read here on HuffPost.
In other news:
Germany’s Bundestag voted to endorse a plan to burn more coal and shut down the country’s remaining three nuclear reactors. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
As Dutch ministers say it’s “crystal clear” that reviving the Netherlands’ gas drilling industry would cause more harm than keeping nuclear plants open, the country is asking its eastern neighbor, Germany, to "consider keeping its nuclear power plants open.” Bloomberg
Severe water scarcity events are expected to impact up to 60% of the world’s wheat-growing areas by the end of the 21st century. World Grain
Republican regulators on Georgia's Public Service Commission, flush with cash from utility giant Georgia Power, appear to have gerrymandered districts to box out the one Democrat vying for a seat on the commission. Earther
“We’re like a pestilence on the land. We’re killing ourselves with our own toxicity.” A Massachusetts composting facility spread cancer-causing chemicals. The Boston Globe
A Native American community in Utah received a federal grant to study whether its neighbor is responsible for its anecdotally high rates of cancer. The neighbor? The United States' only operating uranium mill. The results aren't due until 2025. NPR
Recommendation:
I’m not a big coffee drinker, and I honestly usually enjoy the watery brew at bodegas and McDonald’s. After years as a barista, however, I’m particular about espresso. I don’t go seeking it out, nor do I make it at home. But two weeks ago, I visited 787 Coffee for the first time. This chain of Manhattan cafés (I went to the one on 2nd Avenue between 5th and 6th streets) serves coffee grown at its own farms in Maricao, Puerto Rico. I always like to support anything that boosts local agriculture in Puerto Rico – a place that, despite its rich, fertile land, gets the vast majority of its calories from industrially-produced U.S. imports – so I stopped in. And let me tell you, the rum-infused beans made one of the most satisfying, delicious shots of espresso I have ever had. It was caramelly and crisp, not at all bitter, and gave me an immediate but pleasant caffeine buzz. I’m planning to go back this week.
Thank you for reading!