HEADLINE: California Wine Country Bans New Gas Stations

Storyline: Eight cities and towns in Napa and Sonoma counties have banned the construction of new gas stations. The city council in Novato, Calif., located in Marin County, passed a ban in an initial vote last week and is expected to give it final approval in November.

Local leaders say the laws are part of an effort to fight climate change in a region devastated by wildfires and drought.

Of Interest: They also say there is increasingly less need for gas stations in the area, as state data show electric vehicles are more common in Marin, Napa, and Sonoma than in the nation.

Background: The ban is fueled partly by state regulations that require an end to the sale of gasoline-powered cars in California in 2035. 

The prohibitions have so far faced little political opposition in small municipalities or larger ones such as Santa Rosa, a city of 177,000 an hour north of San Francisco that lost 3,000 homes in a 2017 wildfire.

Key Quote: “We are a community that has felt the sting of climate change,” said Chris Rogers, the city’s mayor. “We don’t want to use our land, which is very valuable, and our staff time, which is also very valuable, on the infrastructure of the past.”

Counterpoint: As the push for such bans has expanded to less-affluent communities such as Cloverdale, a city of 9,000 at the northern edge of Sonoma County, some local leaders are trying to stop them. Mayor Todd Lands said his constituents can’t afford Tesla’s.

“I’m the mayor of our city, I run our city, and I can’t afford an electric vehicle,” said Mr. Lands, who owns a construction company and drives a Chevy pickup truck.

The California Fuels and Convenience Alliance, an association representing gas-station owners, is fighting the proposals. It has been argued that gas stations can install and subsidize electric-vehicle chargers. The association also said bans would force people to drive farther to get gasoline, leading to more pollution.

What may be instore: The push to ban gas stations began after a group of environmentalists came together in 2019 to block a new gas station in Sonoma County and discovered plans were under way for more to open in the area.

The movement faces a more challenging fight in Los Angeles, where 93% of households have a motor vehicle. Still, a bill asking the city attorney to draft an ordinance banning new gas stations is making its way through committee hearings. 

 Source: Wall Street Journal, October 31, 2022