Environmental organizations are urging the board members of a major lobbying group for California restaurants to reconsider their support for a lawsuit against Berkeley over the city’s ban on natural gas in new buildings.
Organizations including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council released a letter they sent Tuesday to the restaurants of the California Restaurant Association’s board members.
“By carrying out this lawsuit, CRA is positioning themselves in alliance with oil and gas industry executives, and not on the side of the majority of Californians who support solutions to the climate crisis,” the letter said.
The restaurant association filed the lawsuit in November. It claims that a city ordinance allowing only electric appliances and temperature controls in new buildings is unlawful and will have a negative effect on restaurants. The suit argues that restaurants would not be able to properly prepare food or heat their buildings without access to natural gas. The association also questioned Berkeley’s rush toward a fully electric future amid increasing and irregular power outages across the state.
The Berkeley City Council unanimously passed the ordinance in July 2019 as part of an effort to curb the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. Proponents say the city adopted the measure after extensive research and public review. The law went into effect this month. Because the law applies only to new construction, Berkeley restaurants in existing buildings may continue using gas appliances, even if those restaurants require renovation.
The Sierra Club has tracked more than 20 cities across the state that have adopted legislation similar to Berkeley’s banning natural gas or promoting electricity in new construction.
“California is in the middle of a climate crisis,” said Sierra Club representative Matthew Gough. “We know that without aggressive policy to move off of dirty and dangerous fossil fuels, natural disasters and strains on our resources are going to get worse.”