DOJ Sues New Jersey Town Over Natural Gas Ban

 by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Morris Township in New Jersey over its ban on natural gas and other fossil fuels in newly constructed buildings, the department said in an April 1 statement.

Blue flames from a gas stove at a home in Arlington, Va., on May 3, 2023. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

The ban “drives up energy costs for everyday American consumers and weakens our Nation’s energy dominance,” the DOJ said.

“Such policies reflect a radical left effort to outlaw federally regulated gas stoves, furnaces, water heaters, dryers, and other appliances that American families rely on daily to cook their meals and heat their homes.”

The lawsuit, filed on March 31 at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, takes issue with an ordinance the township passed in 2022.

The ordinance said that beginning Sept. 1, 2022, officials shall not issue a construction permit for any new apartments consisting of 12 or more units unless the building is all-electric.

The ordinance defines an all-electric building as not using natural gas, propane, or oil heaters, or their associated delivery systems—boilers, piping systems, fixtures, and infrastructures—to meet its energy needs.

In its lawsuit, the DOJ argues that the ordinance denies the township’s consumers “reliable, resilient, and affordable energy,” as well as the option to use commonplace gas appliances for heating, cooking, and other household tasks.

Moreover, the township’s ban on natural gas is unlawful, as the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 preempts state and local regulations related to energy efficiency or energy use of any product subject to the federal government’s energy conservation standard, the complaint said.

The DOJ argued that the Ninth Circuit Court recently ruled that banning the installation of natural gas piping in new buildings was preempted by Congress via EPCA. This legal precedent makes Morris Township’s gas ban “invalid.”

The department asked the court to rule the township’s ordinance as “void and unenforceable.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the mayor of Morris Township for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

“Where the federal government has exclusive authority to regulate appliances and infrastructure, we will fight state and local overreach,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson, from the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said.

“Banning natural gas is illegal. It makes heating, cooking, drying, and other life functions more unaffordable for consumers. This Administration is committed to unleashing American energy and empowering Americans.”

Trump’s Executive Order

In the lawsuit, the DOJ cited President Donald Trump’s April 8, 2025, executive order, titled Protecting American Energy From State Overreach.

State laws and policies that seek to institute climate regulations related to energy weaken America’s national security and bring about financial ruin by pushing up energy costs for families, Trump wrote in the order, adding that such rules undermine federalism by “projecting the regulatory preferences of a few States into all States.”

Trump instructed the Attorney General to take “all appropriate action” necessary to stop the enforcement of state and local laws, policies, and practices that burden the development and use of domestic energy resources.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the DOJ’s lawsuit against Morris Township follows two similar successful lawsuits in California.

“Radical environmentalist policies that drive up costs and limit consumer choice will not stand,” Bondi said.

In January, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Morgan Hill and Petaluma, cities in California, over their natural gas bans.

The DOJ said in the recent statement that due to the lawsuit, both cities recently passed ordinances rescinding natural gas bans.

Meanwhile, a new bill, the Affordable Home Energy Protection Act, which seeks to tackle the issue of local energy restrictions, was introduced last month in the Legislature of New Jersey, where Morris Township is located.

Several localities have attempted to ban or restrict the use of natural gas hookups or combustion-based appliances in newly constructed or renovated buildings without properly considering costs, feasibility, or consumer preferences, the measure said.

The bill explicitly bans state agencies and local governments from adopting any rule that “prohibits or unduly restricts the installation, connection, or use of appliances or heating systems powered by natural gas, propane, or fuel oil in residential or commercial buildings.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/doj-sues-new-jersey-town-over-natural-gas-ban

LA leads nation in massive population exodus as ‘breaking point’ hits Golden State

 Los Angeles County, once the symbol of American prosperity and Hollywood dreams, has earned the title of the nation's leader in population loss.

The latest U.S. Census data shows shows that between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, 53,421 residents left the county, marking the largest decline in the U.S. Additionally, Los Angeles County has fallen from about 10 million residents in 2020 to roughly 9.7 million today.

"There is a real sense of burnout. They are paying insane taxes and getting absolutely nothing in return," RIVANI founder Robert Rivani — who has seen a big migration of companies moving their headquarters to his Miami building from California, including Playboy — told Fox News Digital. "People feel like they’re living in a place that’s draining them financially and in exchange they’re dealing with rising crime, shrinking services, and a sense that everyone around them is trying to leave too."

"When I moved my family and my company here, everyone thought I was crazy," Rivani continued. "They were convinced LA was going to bounce back and that the problems were temporary. I saw the writing on the wall, and Miami has proven over and over that we made the right call."

"It isn’t just one factor, it’s the breaking point phenomenon. The taxes, the lack of safety, the red tape," Compass' Chad Carroll also told Fox News Digital. "I have a client from California whose home was broken into twice in the past six months. The whole political landscape there is destroying the state."

"These are individuals who have spent their lives building businesses and wealth," Carroll added, "and they feel that California has become a place that takes everything and gives back very little in terms of safety, infrastructure and opportunity."

The fleeing Angelenos are seeking areas with lower living costs and different political climates. Census data indicate that Riverside and San Bernardino gained 21,131 residents from Los Angeles County, while Las Vegas saw a boost of more than 21,000 people last year.

arroll, an alum of "Million Dollar Listing Miami," and Rivani argue people are gravitating toward places where "their money stretches further and they feel welcome."

They both also warn that a shrinking population serves "a direct hit" to Los Angeles' financial backbone.

"Real estate value is driven by demand and the quality of the surrounding tax base. When the top 1% flee, they take the tax revenue that funds the parks, the police and the schools with them, and that has a major trickle-down effect," Carroll said. "You can’t lose 300,000 residents, specifically high-earners, and expect your property values to keep pace with the growth we’re seeing in the Sunbelt."

"Those services are what keep a city functional. If you don’t have the tax base to support them, everything declines. And when the government’s only answer is to tax whoever is left even more, you create a vicious cycle where even more people pack up and go," Rivani expanded.

Los Angeles isn’t alone, as other high-tax, high-regulation hubs in California also saw significant population drops. Orange County lost 8,520 residents; San Diego lost 5,294; and Ventura County saw a decline of 2,580.

"The numbers don't lie, and they should be a big wake-up call," Carroll urged. "We are seeing a historic wealth transfer that is going to define the foreseeable future of U.S. real estate. With the rise of the tech and finance sectors in Miami and West Palm Beach, the Sunbelt is the new frontier of American success."

In recent months, many wealthy Californians have relocated across state lines, with top luxury developers previously telling Fox News Digital that more than $126 million in sales were secured in just 60 days from buyers in California and New York — driven by California’s proposed 5% one-time billionaire tax and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s talk of higher property taxes.

"Los Angeles is not the Hollywood star it once was, and I don’t think it can return to that. The government running it today has created a reality that people don’t want to live in, and it’s extremely hard to reverse that kind of decline. Once a city loses its shine, it’s almost impossible to get it back," Rivani said. "The polls show leading candidates for governor are Republican, which tells you how fed up people are with the direction of the state. It would take a lot of reform to bring it back to its glory days."

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/los-angeles-leads-nation-massive-population-exodus-breaking-point-hits-golden-state