Nov. 17, 2021: Today the Eugene City Council moved to support policies to transition the City’s buildings to 100% clean electricity. Specifically, council voted to advance two motions: the first (passed 5-2) to direct staff to begin examining changes to City Code in order to implement first-in-the-state policy mandating that all new construction in the City be 100% electric by 2023, and the second (passed 6-2) to create a roadmap to equitably electrify all buildings in the City by 2045.
There is strong evidence that indoor combustion of methane (whether “natural gas” or “renewable natural gas”) has very significant health risks. And now electric heat pumps for space and water heating are cheaper than comparable gas heating and air conditioning systems in all parts of the US.
Nationally, the natural gas industry has created furious greenwashing PR campaigns against communities even thinking about requiring electrification of buildings.
