LA may become the biggest city yet to ban new gas stations
Los Angeles, the second most populated city in the US, could become the largest city yet to ban the construction of new gas stations. A directive to this effect is currently being drafted, reports the Guardian newspaper, and could become all the more decisive in the city known for its reliance on cars.
Officials in Los Angeles, alongside staffers in Bethlehem, New York, and Comox District, British Columbia, told the Guardian that they were working on policies to stop the development of new fossil fuel infrastructure.
“We are ending oil drilling in Los Angeles. We are moving to all-electric new construction. And we are building toward fossil-fuel-free transportation,” said Paul Koretz, the LA council member working on the policy. “Our great and influential city, which grew up around the automobile, is the perfect place to figure out how to move off the gas-powered car.”
If successful, Los Angeles would be the largest city to pass such a measure. The council member hopes to see the policy move by the year’s end.
LA’s proposal was inspired by the city of Petaluma, California, which last year became the first in the world to ban new gas stations. The Bay Area city council voted unanimously in support of the measure, which included regulations for gas stations closing to clean up “whatever toxins are on the property”.
Other cities, too, have discovered gas stations’ potential for transformation. Most recently, in Vancouver, the city council also unanimously approved a motion that requires all gas stations and parking lots with more than 60 stalls to have EV charging onsite or pay an annual license fee of $10,000 starting in 2025.
In Europe, Amsterdam is on the way to electrifying its city petrol stations. A motion submitted in 2020 plans to convert around 30 of the 55 petrol stations on municipal land into fast-charging locations for EVs by 2025.
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