Can Los Angeles Join the Anti-Gas Station Movement?

The city of Petaluma in the North Bay Area in California in 2021 was the first city in the country, and maybe the world, to prohibit the construction of new gas stations as a climate action.

It turns out, that Petaluma was first, but it hasn’t been the last.

“Since Petaluma’s decision, four other cities in the Bay Area have followed suit, and now, leaders in California’s most car-centric metropolis are hoping to bring the climate-conscious policy to Southern California,” reports Grace Toohey for the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles, the state’s largest city by population, and a symbol of sprawl in public perception, is among those cities to have consider a similar change, although a proposal by Councilmember Paul Koretz to begin drafting a ordinance to ban new gas stations hasn’t yet produced results.

“While Petaluma officials at the time called its new gas pump ban ‘completely uncontroversial,’ it’s unclear how such a policy would go over in Los Angeles, a city with about 65 times as many people and a transportation infrastructure that still heavily relies on vehicles,” writes Toohey. “Lobbyists for gas stations said they will oppose the motion in L.A. if it moves forward.” A 2020 executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom to sunset the sale of gas vehicles in the state by 2035 provides some context, and incentive, for Los Angeles to figure it out.