City council in Petaluma, California, has voted unanimously to prohibit the creation, expansion, reconstruction and relocation of gas stations within city limits.
Petaluma City Council hopes this move, which makes the city the first in the United States to ban the construction of new gas stations, will help speed up the transition from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to battery-electric offerings.
“We need to do our part to help mitigate and adapt to our changing weather patterns that exist because of all the carbon we put in the atmosphere,” Petaluma City Councilwoman D’lynda Fischer said this week.
“I hope other cities will follow suit and if they have existing fossil fuel stations that satisfy the needs of their community, they too will decide that they don’t need any more,” she added.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said last year that the state planned to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles as of 2035. The state has also outlined plans to become fully carbon neutral by 2045.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the legislation to ban the construction or expansion of new gas stations in Petaluma has been in the works for a couple of years. The legislation started out as a two-year moratorium on gas station construction but has since evolved to include a total ban on new fossil fuel stations. Petaluma currently has 16 gas stations within its limits and will soon have 17 once construction on a new Safeway is completed in the coming months.
General Motors, sensing the impending market shift to electric vehicles, has invested heavily into electric vehicle tech in recent months and years. It will introduce 30 new electric vehicles globally between now and 2025 and plans on phasing out internal combustion engine vehicles entirely by 2035.
“Climate change is real, and we want to be part of the solution by putting everyone in an electric vehicle,” GM CEO Mary Barra said last year. “We are transitioning to an all-electric portfolio from a position of strength and we’re focused on growth. We can accelerate our EV plans because we are rapidly building a competitive advantage in batteries, software, vehicle integration, manufacturing and customer experience.”
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Comments
If this isn’t proof Biden’s going to take away our gas stations, I don’t know what is.
Huh, it doesn’t say Biden is banning new gas stations in Petaluma….idiot.
Lol, who says that idiot staying past ’24. The Demos about to lose seats next year because of this extreme liberal garbage. As for this city it’s just symbolic. Either fill at a current station or drive past the city limits for a fill-up.
Exactly. Now people will drive further to fill up, putting more CO2 into the air.
If I lived there, that’s exactly what I’d do.
The shift towards electric is happening, but politicians are climbing over each other to prove which one is more virtuous.
If it is symbolic, then why do those “idiots” posting here make a big deal out of it?
Because they just can’t wait to make it into something that isn’t.
Because it is idiotic, don’t half-effort the situation with no real solution in place.
I’m curious as to what they intend on doing with all the tons of spent lithium ion batteries! That’s going to be a whole new form of bio hazard! I think if they what to control carbon we should be trying to clean up the oceans and replanting the forest especially the rain forest! How come we never hear about that anymore? I remember 30 years ago that was the alarm sounding that was supposed to alter the climate and cause global warming!! WTF over!
No problem, liberals will just tax Conservatives to pay for the toxic waste disposed into our oceans and landfills from those dead batteries.
What a bunch of idiots…
No wonder all the smart people are moving to Red states – all the dumb ones moved to California!
i bet a bunch of people in texas wish they didn’t live there right now.
the strongest liberal is weaker than the weakest conservative.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going on a vacation in Cancun………Ted Cruz
I hate our government, it just shows the American people aren’t smart enough to govern themselves anymore ,I really don’t know what the answer is, Lets just worry about what we are going to do about Mr Potato head and Dr Seuss thats the major disasters right now
so if i own a gas station, its value just went up?
They will shame all the gas stations out of business. Gas is up $.75 a gallon since election day. The Gov’t is after gasoline.
qanon is our only hope to overthrow the regime.
Lol are you still on that?
It’s almost as if electric vehicles are the future…would you all have preferred a horse and buggy over a Model T back in the day?
Depends on where I lived. Horses often pulled out the cars from the mud back then because the roads were so bad. Kind of pieces being pushed now without the charging infrastructure.
there is no charging infrastructure.
What I prefer is that government not put their finger on the scale.
If electric vehicles truly are the future then the local government doesn’t have to hasten the demise of the ICE. Since electric cars are so expensive right now, that also only hurts lower income people that cannot afford electric cars…because they will have less choice in gas stations and gas prices will only go up.
It’s pure virtue signaling and is counter to a free-market.
This city will be come a desert and no business will build there. Watch its going to happen. The carbon neutral thing is so stupid we as humans put maybe 10-20 percent of carbon in the air. The rest is completely natural and nothing we can do about it. We have more trees in the US than we have ever had, we also have some of cleanest air we ever had. The US is not the problem the problem is the rest of world. Nothing we do in the US has any affect on those across the Atlantic or Pacific. The number one Carbon producer is the earth. One Volcano erupting puts as much carbon in the air as 10 years of normal human activity. This is all a money grab and what you are going to see is more poor people and older people dying because of no heat or electricity.
humans are made of carbon. i guess this is why the left is pushing gender neutrality. they don’t want humans anymore.
Existing gas stations are happy with the new regulation.
So where does the electricity come from for all these electric car, Hmmm i thought so, not a clue……
From unicorns and pixie dust…
coal, oil and nuclear power.
If you had done some research before posting like a typical ignorant internet poster, you would have known that Petaluma is located in Sonoma County which is the site of Calpine Geothermal plant. It is one of the largest installation of geothermal power and the county is 100% geothermal.
I’ve heard this saying more than once: liberal policies are set in one of two ways, either mandate something or ban it.
High gas prices? Let them drive electric.
Well let’s try to get a non agenda response here.
This is a bit short sighted as not everything is going electric even in California for a good while.
If things work as some expect the Gas stations will go away on their own as demand drops. In fact as charging gets faster they may share chargers as many oil companies are investing into electric.
In the end the market is going to drive changes and governments need to keep out. Let the. Companies offer the products and let the consumers choose what they want.
Exactly. Let the free market decide. Wow, what a concept.
They aren’t banning existing ones.
They just don’t allow new stations to be built.
Much ado about nothing
In America the average is 1 gas station for 3000 cars.
In an average city, the size of Petaluma CA (population 60,000) you would expect their to be 16 gas stations.
Let me double check, I could have sworn I was in a auto blog.
just another reason intelligent moral people are leaving california in droves!
Apparently not soon enough. The price of housing is just too high. The sooner they all move out the better.
Most of the people who post here fall into the category of ignorant readers. They already had something in their mind and filled with ignorance. Before they do any research, they already opened their pie holes to spew out their bias.
I live in the area and know Petaluma well, so I can speak about the situation with some perspective and facts:
1. This only ban NEW gas stations. Not banning on existing ones. The city is only 60K residence and borders two other cities. It is only 15 square miles and have 16 gas stations already with one big Safeway stations coming. So, it has more than enough stations.
2. Existing residences have no problems with it. Gas station owners have no problems with it either. They basically cornered their own market. Residences don’t mind and if they do, there are plenty of stations in the nearby city. US-101 basically cut thru the middle of the city. 10 miles North or South of the City have Costco Gas stations and Safeway Gas stations that are some of the cheapest gas stations in the region.
3. There are plenty of EV owners in the city and there are already a 16 stall Tesla Supercharger stations. All majority shopping centers or community centers have Level 2 chargers. There are also CCS/Chademo DCFC in the city.
4. The ban is really just symbolic gesture and hardly impact anyone. The last gas station petitioned to open was the Safeway station that took nearly a decade to come true.
5. There is far bigger issue to worry in Petaluma which is pot hole filled roads that are hard to keep up due to the adobe clay underneath and earth movement that often crack the roads over time.
Few realize that in CA, city council critters know best which companies should be allowed in their jurisdictions, based on the council’s declaration of what THEY think is the “supply and demand” situation. This CA city council grandly announced that their city (Petaluma) has enough gas stations, and no more should be allowed.
Somehow that’s supposed to save the planet, but it’s more likely that the EXISTING gas station owners first “crossed the palms” of these self-appointed financial gurus to keep out competition — and keep prices high for their customers — ya know, the VOTERS.
I can see similar city legislation being passed in cities and counties up and down the Golden State to protect gas stations from future competition — always with the appropriate tribute being first paid to our elected overseers in the form of campaign contributions — if not outright bribes.
Surely this rationale — once accepted — will allow city councils to control the number of ALL retail businesses in their bergs.
This local protectionism is the very ESSENCE of crony capitalism — which doubtless these same city council buffoons rage against.