In February, the city of Eugene became the first city in Oregon to pass a ban on natural gas in residential buildings, with city council members reasoning that it would be of positive impact for the community and limit the amount of fossil fuel emissions in the city. 
In early July, the city decided to repeal the ordinance and will now focus on other ways to reduce carbon emissions. 

Once legal issues regarding natural gas bans arose in Berkeley, California, Mayor Lucy Vinis said there was a shift in conversations about the ban going to the ballot in November.  
“We were already having these conversations about what we were going to do in the November ballot, and then those conversations shifted because we suddenly had a different problem in front of us: a worse problem,” she said. 
Vinis said that city officials were questioning if the ban was going to work after the city of Berkeley was rejected by a federal appeals court after a lawsuit broke out against the California Restaurant Association. 
“I believe the city of Eugene is on solid ground with that ordinance and I believe it is well within our authority and we regulate our infrastructure,” she said. “I ultimately hope that Berkeley prevails and I think it’s very likely that they will.”  
Vinis went on to say that for years, the Eugene community has proved its commitment to climate action and that hope remains within the city government. 
“On the other hand, there were huge benefits to pivoting and putting all of our energy into having those much more thoughtful decarbonization and electrification conversations with the community,” Vinis said. “Especially in light of the Inflation Reduction Act funds and in light of the legislation passed at the state level this year.” 
Her goal is to accomplish as much of the city’s decarbonization work as possible through incentives, rebates and voluntary actions that lead people to the idea these changes are in their best interest. 
“I would like to think we could do this all in that [voluntary] way, but I am reserving a rational part of me that says at the end of the day we will have to regulate natural gas at some point,” Vinis said. 
Vinis said that in a year, the city will know more on what the next steps would look like for natural gas. She also doesn’t believe that voluntary opportunities are going to be enough in addressing climate change. 
Instead, she says that students should focus on the seemingly smaller steps that will happen next for climate change such as incentivizing landlords to put in more efficient heating pumps and duct systems. The focus is to make smaller changes that lead to big improvements, the mayor said. 
“And we will do it and it will have a very big impact on our carbon footprint because our buildings are 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
The mayor said that students should feel there is more hope rather than less with the city of Eugene’s climate progress. 

 “Everybody wants the big shiny thing, right? But actually, change comes in the day-to-day work of these steps, and if you look back, you recognize how those steps have contributed to improvements.”