Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is pushing a “green” agenda in the effort to rebuild the Pacific Palisades, offering faster permits for those residents who agree to build “all-electric” homes when they rebuild, rather than using natural gas.
Last week, Bass issued a new executive order for rebuilding in the Palisades. It read, in part (original emphasis):
Mayor Karen Bass today issued an Emergency Executive Order to help Palisades residents expedite the rebuilding of their homes and businesses in ways that better protect against wildfires and other climate-fueled disasters. At the Mayor’s direction, City departments will develop paths forward to:
- Streamline permitting for owners who rebuild all-electric, more fire-resistant homes
- Promote the use of fire-resistant construction materials to harden homes and businesses as Los Angeles begins to rebuild
- Further strengthen the resiliency of utilities and ensure power reliability during severe weather events
“Getting residents home quickly and safely is my top priority – and we must rebuild with an eye toward the future,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “With today’s Executive Order, we are taking action to help residents harden their homes and businesses against wildfires, ensure our city’s infrastructure can better withstand future disasters, and protect communities for generations to come, all while ensuring the pace of rebuilding continues ahead of expectations.”
Previously, Palisades residents had been told that the only condition for a faster permitting process for rebuilding their homes was to rebuild no more than 10% bigger than the homes that had previously existed before the fire.
Left-wing cities have been trying to ban gas stoves in new residential construction, but there has been a backlash. Last year, the “progressive” city of Berkeley, California, repealed its first-in-the-nation gas ban after “resistance” emerged.
California has also suffered electricity shortages in the late summer in several recent years, due to lack of supply, which is itself partly the result of a rush to abandon fossil fuels and embrace “renewables” like wind and solar energy.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
