Elon Musk shared his thoughts Monday on a proposed rule that would require New York City pizzerias with coal or wood-fire ovens to cut carbon emissions at a significant cost.
"This is utter bs. It won’t make a difference to climate change," Musk tweeted in response to another tweet on the matter.
The rule drafted by the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would require pizzerias with coal and wooden-fire ovens installed prior to 2016 to cut carbon emissions by 75%.
Restaurant owners would be forced to install a filter to the specified ovens then hire an engineer to regularly inspect the carbon emissions.
A cook makes a Neapolitan pizza in Eataly NYC Downtown. The city has drafted a proposed crackdown on coal- and wood-fired ovens in the name of climate change. (Noam Galai/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air and wood and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods with poor air quality," DEP spokesman Ted Timbers said. "This common-sense rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible."
The city, known for its rich pizza tradition, is home to thousands of pizzerias. One shop owner told the New York Post he has spent $20,000 on emission-control air-filter devices in anticipation of the rule.
A worker pulls a regular cheese pizza pie from an oven at the Pizza Palace restaurant in the Inwood neighborhood of New York, U.S., on Saturday, March 26, 2022. (Eilon Paz/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Oh yeah, it’s a big expense!" said Paul Giannone. "It’s not just the expense of having it installed, it’s the maintenance. I got to pay somebody to do it, to go up there every couple of weeks and hose it down and you know do the maintenance."
Less than 100 pizza shops would be impacted by the regulation, a city official told the newspaper.