New York Mayor Tries to Ban Fireplaces

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to make a contribution to Earth Day on Tuesday by outlining a proposal to ban any new wood burning fireplaces. Along with a raft of other “solutions”, he feels that curbing the burning of wood will help reduce air pollution.

From Fox News:

Instead of wood-burning fireplaces, de Blasio wants to allow only cleaner-burning units, such as those that use natural gas.

Residents who already have wood-burning fireplaces would be allowed to keep them, but would be required to use only firewood that has 20 percent moisture or less, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

Officials said that drier wood burns more cleanly and releases fewer toxins into the air.

Everything, including delivery of natural gas to our homes, is controlled by an ailing and decrepit power grid. Clean energy is great…providing you have the means to deliver it to homes in the depths of winter. Every winter sees power outages due to exessive demand and due to lack of investment, this is not going to stop anytime soon.

Heating your home with wood is a common sense back up that families can rely on when the power goes out. This is just another step towards outlawing self-sufficiency in all its forms.

Yes wood does produce particulate matter, but most people with chimneys are well aware that burning damp wood does not produce enough hear and causes excessive soot in the flue. Dry wood is all but smokeless and therefore the ‘toxins’ it produces are minimal, especially when looked at alongside the emissions produced by the procurement, storage and delivery of  natural gas.