Day: January 29, 2021

The city will officially ban fossil fuel connections in new construction by 2030, a major step toward phasing out a reliance on gas and oil that other liberal cities have pursued across the nation.

Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce the new policy, reviewed in advance by POLITICO, during his State of the City address on Thursday. The city will first establish intermediate goals for the policy in the short term and work to ensure the ban doesn’t negatively impact renters and low-income homeowners.

De Blasio last year pledged to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in large building systems by 2040 and to block any new fossil infrastructure, like pipelines, in the city. But it was unclear at the time how he would achieve those lofty goals as cities are mostly beholden to the state or federal government when it comes to new energy infrastructure — from siting new power plants to building offshore wind farms.

But banning gas hookups in new or renovated buildings is one of the few ways cities can exert local authority to cut greenhouse gas emissions — and New York will now pursue the measure.