There has always been a fine line between government officials trying to convince people their idea is a good one rather than listening to the people they represent. Sometimes the idea is in the name of progress, or it advances a special interest. Sometimes it’s both.
Some believe every measure possible must be taken to address climate change. This has been the case with reach codes, which essentially are building codes that reach beyond the state’s codes. Recently, cities here bring them up every few years and focus on eliminating natural gas use.
The concern is that natural gas is essentially methane, a greenhouse gas, which is said to be a contributing factor in human-induced climate change. And by moving away from it, the idea is that we can move toward more eco-friendly forms of energy. I’m all for that idea, as long as equity and economic impact are considered.
There are times that elected officials become so convinced an idea is good, they can’t seem to comprehend the real-life concerns brought forward by their constituents potentially affected by the idea. The main concern always seems to be cost, overreach and quality. In Half Moon Bay, the City Council was pursuing aggressive reach codes that would have eliminated all natural gas use in the city by 2045, while also requiring new major and minor home remodels be electric by 2023. But during the second reading, the vote count wasn’t there.
According to our story last week, Councilmember Robert Brownstone said most of the public in Half Moon Bay was not interested in the changes. He urged the council to consider what the public wanted instead of what the council wanted. He wanted to see ordinance changes regarding restaurants and more guarantees that people for the foreseeable future will not have to replace appliances that burn out with electric options.
“This isn’t about reach codes. This is about overreaching. It’s not about reaching. It’s about overreaching,” Brownstone said.
Replacing gas appliances can be costly. And it’s a major and sometimes fatal change for restaurants. While the threat of climate change is real, there is a real effect on people in making wide-sweeping changes. For many, the idea of moving to all electric is easy, or even already done. It’s not so easy for others. Besides, people love their gas stovetops. If officials are serious about moving to an all-electric future, then it should be done in a way that makes sense for people. Prove it makes sense and is better. If all-electric appliances are as good, prove it. I have yet to see an electric stove for the equivalent cost as a gas stove perform as well. If an all-electric house can be as reliable as a dual commodity house, prove it. If it’s as cost-effective, prove it.
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Moving to all-electric is not as easy as swapping out appliances. There is often an electric panel upgrade needed, and that can be costly.
Perhaps there could be more incentives in getting people to naturally switch. I seem to recall a time that no one recycled, now nearly everyone does. How did this happen? Incentives.
It would also be interesting to see how elected officials making these decisions for us changed their own use from electric to gas, or even if they did at all. If they did make the switch, how much did it cost them? If they haven’t, what is stopping them from doing it?
I found an interesting law the other day that essentially said that utility records of “an elected official with the authority to determine the utility usage policies of the local agency, provided that the home address of an ... official shall not be disclosed,” are public and subject to inspection. It would be interesting to see the natural gas usage of elected officials making these decisions for us, or to see how much it cost to switch to all electric or what the cost prohibitions were in their own situation.
While it is essential for government officials to consider what is best for our society in the future, it is also essential to use an equity lens and consider the real-life impacts of their decisions on the entire community and to recognize sometimes a collective big step is better than a giant leap that leaves some people behind.
Half Moon Bay officials were smart to rethink their decision in light of public concern. Listening and adhering to the public will is the cornerstone of good governance. Listening, then bringing the public along to a greater idea that incorporates the will of the people and addresses common concerns, is the cornerstone of good leadership. Let’s see what happens next.
Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.
Jon - thank you for a great column. I wished more elected officials would follow the lead of the HMB City Council and not make decisions solely based on biased presentations by the global warming crowd. Incidentally, while natural gas in its supplied form is considered a greenhouse gas, once combusted, the end products are CO2 and water. The CO2 component is only 1/24th of the original methane greenhouse gas.
Great column, Mr. Mays. Amusingly, all these folks pushing for all electric can’t explain where all this magic electricity is going to come from – likely imported from other states generating electricity however they want or natural gas power plants located in another part of CA. These short sighted folks don’t care how the sausage is made. They figure as long as their city is electric, they think they’re making progress, ignoring the fact climate is not dedicated to their locale. And let’s not forget all those electricity blackouts, seemingly more frequent each year.
Bought first house last year. The very well known Hillsborough listing mega-agent through a LLC did a LOT of shotty work & electrical in the house and then it was "disclaimed" on the docs. When questioned we were told tough either take it or loose the house. Accept or loose. Not a single permit pulled. We move in and a guy pulls open the ancient and dangerous Federal Pacific panel. SUCH BAD WORK DONE. We should START with figuring a way out to prevent unpermitted and unlicensed work on homes when they are transferring. The only way I know to do this is with competition. We would have gone Heat Pump or we might have considered instant on but as Jon says, the electrical upgrades would have been HUGE. Not because of a few thousand on the panel upgrade. But because of all the GARBAGE electrical work this relator's people did to this house that would all have to be re-done. I'm on our planning commission and even I don't know how to prevent this from happening. I am looking directly at SAMCAR for them to better monitor their people. For me the only way is more competition. If I had had four other options for a home you can bet this relator would have done the work properly. This is how we end up with transfer requirements to inspect sewer laterals, people don't do it right and then government has to over-reach on everyone to fix it for the few.
Isn't this a case of buyer beware? Because of the current housing market, many buyers are purchasing without any contingencies. That is the risk you take. Not sure where our government agencies should fit in.
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(4) comments
Jon - thank you for a great column. I wished more elected officials would follow the lead of the HMB City Council and not make decisions solely based on biased presentations by the global warming crowd. Incidentally, while natural gas in its supplied form is considered a greenhouse gas, once combusted, the end products are CO2 and water. The CO2 component is only 1/24th of the original methane greenhouse gas.
Great column, Mr. Mays. Amusingly, all these folks pushing for all electric can’t explain where all this magic electricity is going to come from – likely imported from other states generating electricity however they want or natural gas power plants located in another part of CA. These short sighted folks don’t care how the sausage is made. They figure as long as their city is electric, they think they’re making progress, ignoring the fact climate is not dedicated to their locale. And let’s not forget all those electricity blackouts, seemingly more frequent each year.
Bought first house last year. The very well known Hillsborough listing mega-agent through a LLC did a LOT of shotty work & electrical in the house and then it was "disclaimed" on the docs. When questioned we were told tough either take it or loose the house. Accept or loose. Not a single permit pulled. We move in and a guy pulls open the ancient and dangerous Federal Pacific panel. SUCH BAD WORK DONE. We should START with figuring a way out to prevent unpermitted and unlicensed work on homes when they are transferring. The only way I know to do this is with competition. We would have gone Heat Pump or we might have considered instant on but as Jon says, the electrical upgrades would have been HUGE. Not because of a few thousand on the panel upgrade. But because of all the GARBAGE electrical work this relator's people did to this house that would all have to be re-done. I'm on our planning commission and even I don't know how to prevent this from happening. I am looking directly at SAMCAR for them to better monitor their people. For me the only way is more competition. If I had had four other options for a home you can bet this relator would have done the work properly. This is how we end up with transfer requirements to inspect sewer laterals, people don't do it right and then government has to over-reach on everyone to fix it for the few.
Isn't this a case of buyer beware? Because of the current housing market, many buyers are purchasing without any contingencies. That is the risk you take. Not sure where our government agencies should fit in.
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