DC is behind on moving beyond gas. Cities from California to Massachusetts are ending gas connections in new buildings, as is Great Britain.

Berkeley, California approved a ban on gas connections in new buildings that took effect on January 1, 2020. Dozens of cities followed, including San Jose, California, a city of more than one million people. The software company Adobe, based in San Jose, is building an 18-story, 700,000 square foot headquarters for 4,000 employees with no gas connections and electricity from clean sources like wind and solar. 

It's not just California. Brookline, Massachusetts voted in 2019 to forego gas and oil heating systems in new buildings and substantially renovated buildings. Great Britain also has plans to ban all fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings across the entire country so that it can lower greenhouse gas emissions and save money.

DC has long been an environmental leader. We were among the first jurisdictions to put a fee on plastic bags and to ban plastic straws. We are moving to electricity from 100% renewable sources before any other state. But DC is behind on gas – and it’s time to catch up.