Gas Station Bans Next on Climate Agenda: Colorado city BANS new gas stations due to ‘obligation’ to tackle ‘climate change’ – Follows California cities

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11888771/Dem-led-Colorado-city-bans-building-new-gas-stations-bid-tackle-climate-change.html

By WILL POTTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Dem-led Colorado city BANS new gas stations in bid to tackle climate change: Now limited to six in town of 21,000 people

  • Louisville, Colorado has voted to ban gas stations to fight climate change 
  • City council members will cap its 21,000 residents to just six stations
  • One legislator who voted said they felt an ‘obligation’ to fight global warming 

The blue-run city of Louisville, Colorado will ban all new gas stations as local lawmakers say they feel an ‘obligation’ to fight climate change.

City councilors in the town of 21,000 approved a proposal Tuesday evening to cap the number of gas stations for their constituents to just six.

A seventh station would only be permitted if a large retailer swoops in, but the limitation was praised by a Louisville legislator who said the move was necessary to combat global warming.

‘We have an obligation to take every step possible to address the changes to our climate that are ravaging our planet and directly impacting the health, well-being and livelihoods of the constituents we represent in Louisville,’ council member Maxine Most told Fox News.

The proposal includes a spate of climate-oriented provisions intended to reduce Louisville’s emissions.

Alongside limiting gas stations in the town, new or modified stations will also be required to install at least two charging ports for electric vehicles.

The suburb, around 20 miles outside of Denver, currently has five gas stations, and although a sixth was recently approved for development, the resolution could make that facility its last.

The plans also include a ban on all gas stations within 1,000 feet of existing stations, and special use approvals for existing gas stations will be needed if any station is closed for a year.

Speaking before the vote, councilwoman Most admitted that the move wouldn’t stop climate change, but said the small community should continue with the plan anyway.

‘We should be taking whatever incremental steps to not create additional fossil fuel infrastructure,’ said the councilmember, who also serves on the city’s Economic Vitality Committee.

Louisville’s green policies are intended to meet several of its climate change fighting goals, including meeting the entire city’s municipal electricity needs with carbon-free sources by 2025.

The community has also set goals of reducing its greenhouse gas emission levels in the coming years, and generating 75 percent of its residential, commercial and industrial needs with carbon-free sources by 2030.

According to the recently approved policy, the law’s authors felt a push to introduce electric cars will entice motorists to make the switch away from gas.

‘Gasoline station bans may also be seen as promoting the use of Electric Vehicles (EVs), thus, reducing vehicle emissions and encouraging low-carbon and cleaner energy options for transportation,’ it says.

‘The proposal for a cap but not a full ban on new gasoline and automobile service stations is in recognition that there will continue to be some demand for gasoline and automobile service stations as more EVs enter the market and gasoline vehicles are transitioned out of the market over time.’

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Town of Louisville enacts ’emergency’ ban on new gas stations; initiative seeks to make move permanent

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LA Times: California cities ban new gas stations in battle to combat climate change – “We didn’t know what we were doing, actually,” said Petaluma Councilwoman D’Lynda Fischer, who led the charge last year to prohibit new gas stations in the city of 60,000. “We didn’t know we were the first in the world when we banned gas stations.”

Since Petaluma’s decision, four other cities in the Bay Area have followed suit, and now, leaders in California’s most car-centric metropolis are hoping to bring the climate-conscious policy to Southern California.

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