Deadline to Act: October 27
CAWG requests your help in sending a large number of emails to Marin Supervisor Brian Colbert in support of implementing the Bay Area Air District’s Zero NOx Rule 9-6 for residential scale hot water heaters. Brian sits on the Air District Board of Directors which will vote on whether to proceed with implementing an amended version of the rule at its Nov 4 meeting. The Board is narrowly divided, and Brian is one of only four board members who have not publicly stated their position.
Now is the time to send Brian supportive emails. He wants to hear from a lot of Marin County and Bay Area residents that Rule 9-6 is what they want! To simplify tracking, Brain asked that the Subject line of the email read “I support Zero NOx Rule 9-6.”
CAWG asks is that you promptly send Brian an email in support of Rule 9-6. Brian’s email address is brian.colbert@marincounty.gov. The body of the email can simply repeat the subject line or provide additional detail on why the sender supports implementation. It’s important that the sender indicate the county or community where they live, and it’s possible that Marin residents will have outsized influence.
The outcome of this vote is huge both for public health and greenhouse gas reduction. NOx is a key component of smog, and gas space and hot water heaters produce more NOx than all refineries or more than all passenger vehicles in the Bay Area! Also, as much as one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions in the Bay Area are from the use of gas in buildings, mostly for space and water heating. The Bay Area Air District will be the first air district nationally to implement a Zero NOx standard for residential hot water heaters, and many proponents and opponents are watching.
Here are links to two summary documents prepared by the Air District that provide additional information about Rule 9-6. Feel free to include these in your requests. Please remember to use the subject line “I support Zero NOx Rule 9-6.” and send all emails by Oct 27.
Thank you for taking action!