New York City legislators are seeking to further the city’s climate goals by essentially ending gas use in new buildings and major renovations, S&P Global reports. The legislation, introduced Thursday, would prohibit new and renovated buildings from burning fossil fuels through updates to the city’s building code. If adopted, the legislation would speed New York’s effort to join Seattle and dozens of California municipalities in requiring electrified, or otherwise renewably-powered, heating.

“We’re talking about cost savings. We’re talking about health. We’re talking about making sure that we are protecting the everyday New Yorker and focusing on our future,” City Council member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, who represents several neighborhoods in eastern Brooklyn that have historically been home to communities of color, including Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and Brownsville, said during a May 18 online rally. “We have been systematically left out of conversations about climate change in communities that I represent.” (S&P Global Market Intelligence)