Photo courtesy of Marina Burity / CC BY-SA 2.0.
Brookline Town Meeting members voted to ban gas hook-ups in new construction and major renovations last night.
According to The Brookline TAB, the warrant article passed overwhelmingly.
Going forward, heat, hot water and appliances installed in new buildings or major renovations in the town will have to be all-electric. The bylaw provides for exemptions, including fuel pipelines for backup generators, in situations where electric is not practical or cost effective.
The rationale, petitioners wrote in their proposal, is simple: gas heating and appliances account for between 60 and 70 percent of the town’s carbon emissions, according to a town analysis of 2008 data.
