As a climate activist, I am embarrassed to admit that I was duped by the natural gas industry into converting my previous home to natural gas, from my stove to my clothes drier. But now that I have learned the ugly truth, I am busy converting the gas appliances in my current home to electric heat-pump appliances. I am also campaigning in the streets to educate consumers about the lies fed to us by the natural gas industry. The stink you smell is not the eau de rotten egg added to the odorless gas; it is the stink of deception and misinformation.
The first truth that has been hidden from the public is that “natural gas” (aka fossil gas) is mostly methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas, just like the more well-known villain, carbon dioxide. Methane is more than 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere (according to the EPA[1]) and is considered a “super pollutant” by the federal government.
Another truth kept from consumers: Natural gas and petroleum systems are the second largest source of methane emissions in the United States (after agriculture) due to leaks in the systems. Methane leaks out during the production, processing, storage, distribution, and use of natural gas, and the production, refinement, transportation, and storage of crude oil. The fossil fuel industry accounts for 28 percent of the methane emissions in the US.[2]
Methane leaks are unhealthy for the climate and unhealthy for people, but you’ll never hear that from NW Natural or the fossil oil industry. You will hear it from the American Lung Association,[3] which is working to protect the communities close to oil and gas operations from methane pollution (those communities are often people of color and people living in poverty.)
Another uncomfortable truth is that “clean natural gas” endangers us inside our very homes. It’s not exactly what my mother imagines (she has read too many murder mysteries where the victim dies with their head inside a gas oven) but natural gas does sicken us, according to research by Harvard University[4] and the National Institutes of Health[5]. Methane doesn’t just leak from pipelines, it also leaks from our gas appliances, especially our stoves. The leaks can cause cancer, cardiovascular problems, asthma, and other health problems. It is not fiction that fossil gas is dangerous and SHOULD be feared.
In addition, NW Natural has been deceiving us by undermining local climate change mitigation efforts. Oregon’s Climate Protection Plan and Portland’s Build Shift coalition were both created to help communities better survive climate change, but NW Natural and the fossil gas industry are doing their best to decimate the programs.
Finally, NW Natural is not just guilty of gaslighting; it is also guilty of greenwashing. It uses corporate sponsorships to hide its climate damage. This month the NW Natural canopies have popped up at the Street of Dreams home tour. The dream homes are filled with gas appliances and lots of propaganda about gas, like the decades-old fairy tale that gas stoves are the best way to cook. (Consumer Reports says electric stoves are as good or better.[6])
The public needs to know the truth about methane so people can make informed choices, as well as raise their concerns to elected officials. Don’t let dream homes distract you. It’s time to wake up from the nightmare and eliminate natural gas from our homes and our energy generation.
[1] https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane
[2] https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases#methane
[3] https://www.lung.org/blog/methane-gas-pollution
[4] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/news/natural-gas-used-in-homes/; https://sustainability.stanford.edu/news/climate-and-health-impacts-natural-gas-stoves
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6360130/
[6] https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/ranges/gas-or-electric-range-which-is-better-a1142956590/
