Gas Industry Pumps Money Into Tiny Local Race To Crush Climate Champion

"Alex Ramel took the lead on electrifying buildings in Washington state — and fossil fuel interests want to make an example of him."

"By the time Alex Ramel took office in 2020, his fellow Democrats controlled Washington’s House of Representatives and had already divvied up the work on electric vehicles, clean fuels and carbon pricing.

So the new legislator, who previously worked on energy policy, decided he’d carve out a lane for himself by taking on one of the tougher challenges facing cities and states: slashing the 13% of U.S. emissions that come from heating buildings with fossil fuels and cooking with gas.

Ramel passed legislation requiring state-owned facilities to adopt electric heating, and proposed bills to increase rebates for ratepayers who swap oil or gas heating for electric heat pumps and force gas utilities to come up with public plans to quit fossil fuels. He championed building codes mandating electric heating in new commercial buildings."

Alexander C. Kaufman reports for HuffPost July 30, 2022.

Source: HuffPost, 08/02/2022