Democrat-led Colorado city bans construction of new gas stations in bid to tackle climate change

The blue city of Louisville, Colorado will ban all new gas stations as local lawmakers say they feel an “obligation” to fight climate change.

Council members for the city of 21,000 people approved a proposal Tuesday night to limit the number of gas stations for their constituents to just six.

Only a seventh station would be allowed if a big retailer steps in, but a Louisville lawmaker praised the limitation, saying the move was necessary to combat global warming.

“We have an obligation to take all possible steps to address the changes in our climate that are devastating our planet and directly affecting the health, well-being and livelihoods of the constituents we represent in Louisville,” said Councilwoman Maxine Most. foxnews.

Local councilor Maxine Most, pictured, said she feels an “obligation to take all possible steps” to combat global warming.

The proposal includes a number of climate-oriented provisions intended to reduce Louisville’s emissions.

In addition to limiting gas stations in the city, new or modified stations will also have to install at least two charging ports for electric vehicles.

The suburb, about 20 miles from Denver, currently has five gas stations, and while development of a sixth was recently approved, the resolution could make that facility its last.

The plans also include a ban on all gas stations within 1,000 feet of existing stations, and special use approvals will be needed for existing gas stations if any stations are closed for a year.

Speaking before the vote, Councilor Most conceded that the measure would not stop climate change, but said the small community should continue with the plan anyway.

“We should take incremental steps to not create additional fossil fuel infrastructure,” said the councilman, who is also on the city’s Economic Vitality Committee.

Louisville’s green policies are intended to meet several of its climate change goals, including meeting citywide municipal electricity needs with carbon-free sources by 2025.

The community has also set goals to reduce its greenhouse gas emission levels in the coming years and generate 75 percent of its residential, commercial and industrial needs with carbon-free sources by 2030.

The new proposal will make Louisville’s sixth gas station, still under development, the last

Louisville, Colorado was devastated by a wildfire in January 2022, prompting President Biden to visit the city so he could deliver a call to action on climate policy.

Before the gas cut measures had already made their way through the local legislature, a review by the Louisville Sustainability Advisory Board this month also recommended that the number be reduced to five.

Under the recently passed policy, the bill’s authors felt that a push to introduce electric cars would entice motorists to stop using gasoline.

“Gas station bans can also be seen as promoting electric vehicle (EV) use, which reduces vehicle emissions and encourages cleaner, lower-carbon energy options for transportation,” he says.

‘The proposal for a limit, but not an outright ban, on new gas and car filling stations is an acknowledgment that there will continue to be some demand for gas and car filling stations as more electric vehicles enter the market and gasoline vehicles exit the market. over time.’

Louisville’s cap on gas stations follows several other local legislatures that ban new gas stations in the name of climate change, including in Santa Rosa, California.

The community push for green policies also comes a year after it was devastated by a wildfire, an incident that prompted President Biden to visit the city to make an urgent call for more climate action.

“The situation is a blinking Code Red for our nation,” Biden said, pointing to the rare winter wildfire that tore through the city.

‘The combination of extreme drought, the driest June-December period on record, unusually strong winds, no snow on the ground created a tinderbox. A literal tinderbox.