A court case in California could hamstring efforts in Washington and Oregon to limit new natural gas connections, after an appeals court ruled in April that a city ordinance conflicted with federal law.
A court overseeing multiple west coast US states sided with the Berkeley Restaurant Association and ruled that the federal EPCA of 1975 - which in part exercises federal control over energy distribution to prevent insufficiency during shortages, including that of natural gas (source: wiki) - forbids local jurisdictions from implementing laws that would hinder the distribution of energy.
ELI5
A court ruled that the US government has a law that says states can’t say no to power sources, like the electricity in the outlets or the gas in the furnace. This makes many people unhappy, because they think that some power sources are more harmful than they are helpful. It makes other people unhappy, because they don’t think the US government should have the power to make that law.
tl;dr
A court overseeing multiple west coast US states sided with the Berkeley Restaurant Association and ruled that the federal EPCA of 1975 - which in part exercises federal control over energy distribution to prevent insufficiency during shortages, including that of natural gas (source: wiki) - forbids local jurisdictions from implementing laws that would hinder the distribution of energy.
ELI5
A court ruled that the US government has a law that says states can’t say no to power sources, like the electricity in the outlets or the gas in the furnace. This makes many people unhappy, because they think that some power sources are more harmful than they are helpful. It makes other people unhappy, because they don’t think the US government should have the power to make that law.
Interesting article, thanks for posting.