Los Angeles joins 55 California cities committed to phasing out gas appliances

On May 27th, Los Angeles City Council voted to ban most gas appliances in new construction, a policy expected to equipt new homes with electric stoves, heaters, and other appliances. CALPIRG applauds this action as an important step to address air pollution from burning gas in our homes. 

Burning gas for cooking releases carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde and particulate matter. Just running a stove formere minutes with poor ventilation can lead to concentrations of these unsafe pollutants that exceed the EPA’s air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide outdoors— and these pollutants are released in your home. Exposure over time cancause asthma to develop, especially in children, andworsen symptoms for people with preexisting respiratory illnesses.

Gas production also has very negative environmental impacts, as the gas used in our homes is mainly composed of methane, a greenhouse gas80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.  A recentstudy from Stanford estimates that the amount of methane emitted annually from gas stoves alone is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide pollution from half a million cars driving for one year.

This is why it’s important that communities like Los Angeles lead the way in the transition to clean, electric homes.