![]() ![]() At the time, a number of B.C. cities were declaring climate emergencies - a statement that he thought should be backed up by immediate and drastic action. The idea of banning new gas stations popped into Daniel Arbour’s head around 2019. “Cities should not be left to fund and clean up the brownfield mess of the oil industry, just as cities should not have to fund and clean up the industry's climate mess, but here we are.” In B.C., two governments look to enact early bans “The end of the internal combustion engine vehicle is in sight and cities must prepare accordingly,” said Andy Shrader, Koretz’s director of environmental affairs, water policy and sustainability. council member Paul Koretz called for a “transition away from gasoline and natural gas” fuelling stations. In a motion proposing the gas station ban, L.A. ![]() But next month, the debate will land at the feet of the City of Los Angeles, perhaps the most iconic mecca for car culture in the world. To date, most of those cities have been small. The cities of Bethlehem, N.Y., Santa Rosa, Calif., and several others are also developing their own bans. In Sonoma County, the cities of Sebastopol and Rohnert Park have put their own bans in place only a few kilometres away from Petaluma. Over the last year, almost a dozen cities across California and New York either have or are planning to change bylaws to stop new gas stations from opening. But emission reduction plans are often formulated at the federal, state or provincial levels. On March 1, 2021, Petaluma ushered in a full and permanent ban - a North American first.Īcross the United States and Canada, emissions from transportation make up roughly a quarter of the two countries’ carbon output. When council learned in a staff report that the city’s 14 gas stations were already within five minutes of any driver, they moved to eliminate zoning permissions for new gas stations. “I didn't want to have to do that again.”Īt the next city council meeting, Fischer called for a temporary moratorium on new gas stations within city limits. “Legally, I felt as though I had to approve it,” she said. The Petaluma neighbourhood surrounding the proposed Safeway gas station fit the same pattern, said Fischer. In many cases, the highest concentrations of gas stations were built in predominantly Black communities or those with high concentrations of people of colour. ![]() Gas stations tend to cluster in Californian zip codes with lower median incomes, according to public data collected by the anti-gasoline non-profit Coltura. “We could not request further environmental analysis and we were really concerned with the impact of that station and the traffic on the daycare centre and the elementary school right across the street,” council member D’Lynda Fischer told Glacier Media. In Petaluma, Calif., the unbridled growth of gas stations came to an end at a local Safeway.Ībout 50 kilometres north of San Francisco, the city of about 60,000 people faced a plan to install a new 14-pump station. They fought back - and won.Īs Canada moves closer to banning the sale of new fossil fuel-powered vehicles, California's experience pushing back against new gas stations bears lessons for cities in British Columbia. Nearly 1,300 kilometres down the coast from British Columbia, a city in Northern California opposed attempts to build new gas stations in their community. It’s a question at the heart of a growing movement of cities opening up a new front in the fight against climate change. Governments at every level in Canada are racing to get people out of their gas-powered cars and onto a bicycle, bus - or if you have the money - anything electric.īut with car culture woven into the fabric of North American culture, is it time to turn off the tap? More fast chargers at work, on the side of the highway and in your condo. Up to $8,000 in electric vehicle rebates.Ī national target to ban the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars by 2035. ![]()
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