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4SIERRA CLUB <br />01) LOMA PRIETA <br />October 28, 2019 <br />1017 Middlefield Road <br />Redwood City, CA 94063 <br />Dear Mayor Bain and Redwood City Councilmembers, <br />RE: 8.B. Adoption of Reach Codes, and amendments to the Fire and Building Codes, <br />waive first reading and introduce ordinance adopting fire and building codes by <br />reference and ordinance amendments <br />Please direct City Staff to write an All -Electric Reach Code or a Prohibition on Gas Use in <br />New Construction <br />We are living in a climate crisis. 2018 was the deadliest wildfire season ever recorded in <br />California. Conditions will continue to worsen unless we take decisive and rapid action to reduce <br />greenhouse gas emissions. <br />Every new gas line that we build is a huge financial liability to our community, as gas <br />rates continue to rise as the cost of gas maintenance increases for the declining number of gas <br />users. The constant methane leaks from gas lines are devastating to our climate while indoor <br />gas use pollutes our homes, causing serious health impacts. The unfortunate reality about gas <br />lines is that once they are installed, it will be difficult and expensive to retrofit them out. The best <br />way to avoid this cost is to not build gas in the first place. <br />Ultimately, an incentive -based approach that allows for mixed fuel buildings will not get <br />us to our goal of full electrification fast enough. Cities like Menlo Park and Mountain View agree, <br />and have included electrification requirements into their reach codes. Mountain View is <br />especially notable for unanimously approving the first reading of an all -electric reach code on <br />October 22, demonstrating that an all -electric requirement is both legally and politically viable. <br />The Cities of Berkeley and Morgan Hill have prevented gas use in new construction <br />through a separate ordinance outside of the reach code process. These ordinances prohibit <br />natural gas use in new construction, and are the strongest way to electrify new construction. <br />Berkeley and Morgan Hill have likewise proved that a gas prohibition for new construction is <br />legally and politically viable. <br />If we do not require that new construction is all -electric, we will have to deal with the <br />consequences of the new gas lines that accelerate climate change and are hazardous to local <br />