I’m a NW Natural Gas customer. Recently, I received a letter from David Anderson, NW Natural’s president and CEO. The letter was addressed to “Our Valued Vancouver Customers.”
The tenor of the letter was alarmist. Mr. Anderson implies the city council is considering preventing me from using natural gas in my home with a “gas ban.” That’s not true. The city, as part of its climate action plan, is considering requiring that all new buildings and homes be built to accommodate a future change to electric power. That’s not a “gas ban.”
Mr. Anderson then touts “renewable natural gas” as an important bridge to address climate change. “Renewable natural gas” isn’t a resource to address climate change. Renewable natural gas is methane gas, chemically identical to fossil natural gas (the gas NW Natural delivers to us) but sourced from decaying feedstocks. It’s very expensive. It has a carbon footprint equal to fossil natural gas. And even if it weren’t more expensive and equally carbon intense, there isn’t nearly enough of it to replace fossil natural gas.
Our city and communities have to address climate change. Misinformation doesn’t help us address the problem.
