Oakland Natural Gas Ban Done Without Economic Impact Analysis, Needs Affordable Housing Exception
Oakland Natural Gas Ban Done Without Economic Impact Analysis, Needs Affordable Housing Exception - Video
Oakland Natural Gas Ban Done Without Economic Impact Analysis, Needs Affordable Housing Exception On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council passed what would be a ban on natural gas use in all new building construction if it got enough votes on its second reading. My problem with the legislation pushed primarily by Oakland District One Councilmember Dan Kalb, and with the help of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Oakland District Two Councilmember Nikki Fortunado Bas, is that it was done solely with concerns about climate change, and without true regard for the creation and maintenance of affordable housing. When I brought my concerns to Councilmember Kalb, he remarked that "the affordable housing community supported" his plan. That's meaningless to me because he's pointing to a political group here or there, and not any economic analysis that would demonstrate an effort to make sure that Oakland's poor and middle class were not hurt by the market reaction to the ban. The fact is that California has the fifth-highest housing living costs in America, and topped only by New England states, and Alaska - this ban threatens to push Oakland even higher than that mark. And of the 40 cities listed as having some type of natural gas ban by The Sierra Club, 38 of them have almost no black people living in them; Oakland, with over 20 percent African American, is the lone exception to the rule. Even Berkeley has a population count that's around 8 to 9 percent. Oakland has been on notice for chasing its black population out of its city or to homelessness by high housing costs. This ban will assure the continuance of that problem. That is, unless, Oakland provides an exemption for affordable housing. Such an exemption does exist in the case of East Palo Alto, which has a black population of around 11 percent, after a 23 percent mark in the first decade of the 21st Century. Thus, the vast majority of cities with natural gas bans have very small African American populations - then there's Oakland. This looks like a push to, well, push, the rest of the poor black folks out of Oakland, or onto the streets. Having an exception for affordable housing would create an incentive to build more affordable housing stock at a time when Oakland has a shortage. Hopefully, the City of Oakland wakes-up to not make an economic mistake, before it's too late. The ban will not stop climate change - even if we reach zero emissions, over-population assures that the problem will not go away. Stay tuned.
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https://youtu.be/c0kYzq2KNpY
Oakland Natural Gas Ban Done Without Economic Impact Analysis, Needs Affordable Housing Exception On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council passed what would be a ban on natural gas use in all new building construction if it got enough votes on its second reading. My problem with the legislation pushed primarily by Oakland District One Councilmember Dan Kalb, and with the help of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Oakland District Two Councilmember Nikki Fortunado Bas, is that it was done solely with concerns about climate change, and without true regard for the creation and maintenance of affordable housing. When I brought my concerns to Councilmember Kalb, he remarked that "the affordable housing community supported" his plan. That's meaningless to me because he's pointing to a political group here or there, and not any economic analysis that would demonstrate an effort to make sure that Oakland's poor and middle class were not hurt by the market reaction to the ban. The fact is that California has the fifth-highest housing living costs in America, and topped only by New England states, and Alaska - this ban threatens to push Oakland even higher than that mark. And of the 40 cities listed as having some type of natural gas ban by The Sierra Club, 38 of them have almost no black people living in them; Oakland, with over 20 percent African American, is the lone exception to the rule. Even Berkeley has a population count that's around 8 to 9 percent. Oakland has been on notice for chasing its black population out of its city or to homelessness by high housing costs. This ban will assure the continuance of that problem. That is, unless, Oakland provides an exemption for affordable housing. Such an exemption does exist in the case of East Palo Alto, which has a black population of around 11 percent, after a 23 percent mark in the first decade of the 21st Century. Thus, the vast majority of cities with natural gas bans have very small African American populations - then there's Oakland. This looks like a push to, well, push, the rest of the poor black folks out of Oakland, or onto the streets. Having an exception for affordable housing would create an incentive to build more affordable housing stock at a time when Oakland has a shortage. Hopefully, the City of Oakland wakes-up to not make an economic mistake, before it's too late. The ban will not stop climate change - even if we reach zero emissions, over-population assures that the problem will not go away. Stay tuned.
via IFTTT
https://youtu.be/c0kYzq2KNpY
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