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Natural gas emissions contributing to the problem of global warming are small compared with emissions from the largest polluters – transportation and electricity production. In an effort to reduce future building emissions, dozens of cities, from New York to San Francisco, have banned gas hookups in new construction.
People who love cooking with gas seem to be the ones that get the most reactions. Their culinary angst – along with reaction from advocates of fuel choice – has sparked a blowback of bans on the bans. Some localities have passed laws that prohibit the restriction of new natural gas connections.
This is Why We Did It
Many cities across the country are banning natural gas hookups, resulting in culinary anxiety for gas-loving chefs. It’s one reason many locales are banning the gas bans.
“With all the progress that we’ve made over the last 10 years or so in terms of changes to the electrical grid with the shift away from coal, it’s now becoming the case that the next sector that should be the obvious target of policies to reduce emissions” is natural gas, says Jonathan Buonocore, research scientist at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Nora Singley is a professional food stylist and downplays the concern. Even though she prefers the control of heat that gas gives her in the kitchen, “it would just be a period of acclimating,” because there are good gas-free electric ranges.
Washington
Since the dawn of time, humans have been cooking over fire. Millennia. With concerns about rising greenhouse gas emissions, some cities are banning natural gasoline in their future kitchens. This poses a policy dilemma: How can we slow global warming while still eating healthy?
Hundreds of jurisdictions, from Brookline, Massachusetts to San Francisco, have banned new gas hookups for heating or cooking. Last month brought its heft to the trend, setting restrictions on fossil fuel usage in new buildings by phasing in emissions limits beginning next year.
The bans placed on flame cooking have sparked a backlash from chefs who feel the bans are unfair. Some Localities and at least 19 states have passed laws to prevent municipalities from restricting new natural gas connections. Also behind these actions: gas-industry lobbying for “Energy choice” and broader legislative tussling along party lines.
This is Why We Did It
Many cities across the country are banning natural gas hookups, resulting in culinary anxiety for gas-loving chefs. It’s one reason many locales are banning the gas bans.
“With all the progress that we’ve made over the last 10 years or so in terms of changes to the electrical grid with the shift away from coal, it’s now becoming the case that the next sector that should be the obvious target of policies to reduce emissions has changed,” says Jonathan Buonocore, research scientist at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He says that natural gas is now a major target.
Safety and pollution
Methane, which is released from natural gas systems accounts for approximately 3% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissionsAccording to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Also, be aware of the following: ExistenceNatural gas is an indoor air pollutant.
RMI is a clean energy advocacy group. Estimates that by 2040, the New York City bill could eliminate the equivalent amount of a year’s worth of emissions from 450,000 cars.
Although natural gas’ contribution to the global emissions problem may seem insignificant compared to emissions for transportation, which are the largest contributors, those who have enacted gas hookup bans only prohibit the use of gas in new construction. In California, for example, 26 jurisdictions have passed laws to require “all-electric” construction, including Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco, though some exceptions to “all-electric” exist for commercial cooking.
“You build a new building and it’s there for 50, maybe 100 years,” says Mark Specht, a senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He adds that the idea behind the NYC ban is simple and similar bans in California are also simple. “If you put in the infrastructure for gas hookups, then you run the risk of locking in continued gas use for decades and decades down the road.”
Restaurant chefs have some of the most strong objections to gas bans. However, they will still be allowed to use gas in buildings with hookups.
“If you want to start a restaurant that uses natural gas sources for cooking, there are lots and lots of buildings in New York City that can accommodate,” says Amy Turner, senior fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, “just not brand new buildings.”
Still, the model from the nation’s largest city could be “hugely influential” for other cities and states looking to enact similar legislation to slash emissions, Ms. Turner says. (And New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this month her support for a gas ban in New York.
SOURCE: S&P Global Market Intelligence
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Jacob Turcotte/Staff
“You just couldn’t have the menu that we have [without gas],” says Tony Palermo, co-owner of Tony P’s Dockside Grill in Marina Del Rey, California. He has been a chef for over 50 years and loves the gas burners’ ability to sear steaks, cook them evenly, and provide consistent heat.
U.S. Census DataIt is estimated that gas fuel for cooking is used by 40% of American households. The most vocal critics of this claim show how influential a cultural tradition such as cooking can be in shaping public policy. Many may see the larger picture of environmental responsibility of reducing emissions from natural gas used to heat buildings or to power electrical production, but some objections at the grassroots level boil down to the attachment to cooking over fire.
The ancient taste for flame-kissed food can be traced back to the Stone Age.
“Our tastes have been shaped through the generations by food cooked by direct flames,” Willow Mullins, professor of folklore and ethnology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, explained in an email interview. “As a result, there’s a cultural distrust towards other ways of cooking in which we can’t see the fire, even if we know they work.”
One of these other methods, powered by electricity is the precise, but costly Induction range.
Ms. Mullins adds that even when those other forms of cooking are used, “we still go looking for signs of the kiss of flame, the char on meat, the crunch of bacon, the Maillard reaction. It’s so ingrained, that sous vide cooks will add it later with a kitchen torch.”
“It would just be a period of acclimating” for gas cooking aficionados because there are good gas-free electric ranges, suggests Nora Singley, a professional food stylist who splits her time between California and New York and prefers the controlled heat gas cooking offers.
For some amateur chefs, like Beth Beeman, a San Clemente, California, resident who doesn’t have a gas hookup, cooking on a gas stove is appealing. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very supportive of environmentally sensitive and friendly actions,” she says. “From a cooking perspective, I would give my right arm to have a gas stove.”
“There’s certainly a lot of allure to gas stoves,” says Stephen Pantano, chief research officer at CLASP, a nongovernmental organization focused on the climate benefits of efficient appliances and an amateur chef himself, who cooks on electric. However, not only are there new laws, but individuals also have a part to play.
“It needs to be more in the forefront of people’s awareness because it’s something much like the car where people have personal decisions to make that can really make a big difference over time,” he says.
