{"id":180154,"date":"2022-11-22T16:59:19","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T00:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eugeneweekly.com\/?p=188392"},"modified":"2022-11-22T16:59:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T00:59:19","slug":"going-natural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/22\/going-natural\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Natural?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before a forum on the City Council\u2019s proposed natural gas ban in new residential housing units, Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis marveled at the large number of people waiting to provide comments on whether they support or oppose the council\u2019s natural gas ban in new residential units. It\u2019s the most people she\u2019s seen at a City Council meeting and the longest testimony list she\u2019s ever seen, Vinis said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside of Lane Community College\u2019s downtown campus, which also functions as Eugene\u2019s City Hall, dozens of environmentalists listened to the Eugene City Council\u2019s Nov. 21 public forum through a portable speaker and ate pizza. Even more people were inside the LCC building, unable to enter the room where the City Council was meeting because it had surpassed its maximum capacity of 115.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The council\u2019s proposed ban on natural gas use in new residential units brought out 188 people whosigned up to comment whether or not they supported the proposed ban. Comments from the public ranged from developers touting the low cost of natural gas to environmentalists saying the ban is a necessary step in the fight against climate change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Laura Allen, a representative from Eugene\u2019s Sustainability Committee, whose members are appointed by the Eugene City Council, said the ban is an important step in reducing carbon emissions in Eugene and meet the city\u2019s goals of its Climate Recovery Ordinance 2.0.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cElectrical alternatives to cooking and heating homes are viable, economically competitive and are already widely used in Eugene,\u201d Allen said. \u201cBecause it\u2019s cheaper to construct all-electric homes, this proposal would also reduce housing costs.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cascadia Wildlands conservation director Bethany Cotton said that she is transitioning her house into an all-electric home. While she said she\u2019s finding the process is being obstructed by NW Natural, she said EWEB is offering incentives. \u201cEnsuring that future Eugene homes are all-electric is a win-win,\u201d she added. \u201cLower costs, lower emissions, healthier indoor air.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kathy Shaw-Bassett said heating and cooling technology already exists that can replace natural gas: heat pumps. \u201cIn the long run, it\u2019s more affordable,\u201d she added. She said that the proposal won\u2019t take away natural gas appliances from people who currently rely on them. \u201cAlthough we will need to eradicate fossil fuels, this is a no-brainer first step to make sure the problem doesn\u2019t get any worse,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not all of the 188 people who signed up to speak actually testified, as some no-showed when the forum began. The night\u2019s meeting had three other public forums.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More people spoke in favor of the ban than against it. According to the Sierra Club, which helped organize the rally to support the natural gas ban, 63 spoke for the policy and about 40 were against banning it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If passed, the ordinance would ban natural gas use in new residential buildings, which includes single-family, duplex, triplex and any housing unit that is fewer than three stories tall. The ban would go into effect in 2035. Eugene would be the first Oregon city to pass such a ban, joining more than 90 other cities throughout the country, including Berkeley, San Jose and Seattle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some against the ban said they worry a future ban would be expanded to existing homes and industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Karl Walrod, who works as a sand and gravel manager at Wildish Sand and Gravel, said a future council might end up targeting other sectors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe use natural gas to heat our hot water to make concrete in the winter time. We use it to make asphalt,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need those for better roads, building schools, homes \u2014 whatever you need, you need natural gas.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other people who spoke against the ban also mentioned that it\u2019s cheaper to heat homes for mobile home parks and other affordable housing units. Some mentioned that EWEB doesn\u2019t have the capacity to fuel the increased demand on its electrical grid. And one person erroneously said that the science isn\u2019t settled on whether humans cause climate change and the council should consider that perspective in their decision making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cClaire Syrett was recalled for pushing that kind of agenda,\u201d said Peter Mead, who also questioned the science behind human-caused climate change. \u201cIt\u2019s important to wait until the new Ward 7 councilor comes on board before making this decision.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The earliest the Eugene City Council could vote on a natural gas ban is January 2023, which would be after appointing a successor to Syrett, who lost a recall election in September over her support of a possible mass transit proposal\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nov. 21 public hearing ended around 10:30 pm, after more than three and a half hours of public comment. There were 32 members who hadn\u2019t commented, and Vinis said that the Eugene City Council would hold another forum on the subject on a date to be determined. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before a forum on the City Council\u2019s proposed natural gas ban in new residential housing units, Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis marveled at the large number \u2026 Continue reading\u00a0\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,101,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-ew-extra","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}