On July 11 Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf vetoed Senate Bill 275, which would have prevented local governments from enacting natural gas hookup bans.
Senate Bill 275 is part of a national lobbying effort by the fossil gas industry to head off increasingly popular local initiatives to shift buildings away from fossil fuel use. Washington, D.C., is one of the most recent cities to enact such a ban.
A Right-to-Know request from the Climate Investigations Center turned up emails showing that PGW took part in crafting a version of the legislation that failed to pass in Harrisburg last year.
“This legislation takes away local decision-making from municipalities by preempting local control on energy matters and choices,” Wolf wrote in a letter explaining his veto. “Specifically, the legislation would limit the tools available to local governments to address the global threat of climate change in future years and stands in the way of clean energy incentives and initiatives.”
