Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
Just 40 miles north of San Francisco, The city of Petaluma has become the first U.S. city to ban all new gas stations in order to reduce carbon emissions..
Recently, the Petaluma City Council voted unanimously to ban the creation, expansion, rebuilding and relocation of gas stations, encouraging station owners to transition to stations that service electric and hydrogen vehicles, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The city, which has a population of 58,000, hopes to become a carbon neutral area by 2030. The action places Petaluma as a pioneer of new strict measures in support of the environment and to curb the consequences of climate change.
"We have to do our part to help mitigate and adapt to our changing weather patterns that exist because of all the carbon we put into the atmosphere," Councilwoman D'Lynda Fischer, who spearheaded the initiative, said at the time.
"I hope other cities will follow suit, and if they have fossil fuel stations to meet their community's needs, they will also decide they no longer need them," she added.
The city of Petaluma currently has 16 gas stations, and one more is slated to be built as part of a grocery store, which had been authorized before the vote.
The measure will be implemented in a state that was a leader in the fight against climate change. In 2018, former Governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order aimed at making California carbon neutral by 2045. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a ban on the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles starting in 2035.
Petaluma's resolution will take effect 30 days after Council approval.
The City also recently announced the transition to 100 percent renewable energy from Sonoma Clean Power, EverGreen, an important step in its commitment to become Climate Ready, or carbon neutral, by 2030.
Following the City Council's adoption of the Climate Action Framework on January 11, 2021, the City committed to take swift and bold action in efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.
