That Other Greenhouse Gas
Words matter. What we call things matter. Along those lines, I've been thinking for some time about how we in the environmental movement talk about natural gas. So I'm going to talk a bit about fracked gas, methane, and why it's so important that we start calling it what it is.
When we learn about the climate crisis and greenhouse gas emissions, everyone thinks about carbon dioxide. And for good reason! But we're leaving out another important contributor to the climate crisis, one that makes Pennsylvania a crucial battleground for climate justice.
So, what is methane? It's essentially what is called natural gas. When we talk about fracking, especially in Pennsylvania, that's methane. When we talk about liquified natural gas, LNG, that's methane. When you turn on your gas stove, that's methane. Most people think of natural gas in a positive light. It's got the word "natural" right in the name! It's cleaner than coal! People are attached to their gas stoves (I myself was on this train for a long time! I get it!).
Methane doesn't linger in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide. But, it is 87 times more potent of a greenhouse gas over a 20-year time frame. In other words, over a 20 year time span, methane is 87 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide and still potent at 36 times over a 100 year span.
Methane primarily comes from fracking, which we do a lot of in Pennsylvania. We're the second highest fracked gas producing state in the country. And methane leaks. At almost every step from drilling to production to transportation through pipelines and, yes, even to that stove in your kitchen. For years methane leaks haven't been monitored or tracked so it's hard to know exactly how much emissions have been created.
I'm not writing this to guilt you into switching out your gas stove (but think about it!), but because I've been elbow-deep in this world for so long, I don't think about how it sounds to people not in the weeds. What are people who aren't this deep into it hearing? Environmentalists say fracking is bad and natural gas is dirty but when people hear that do they know why? People can picture dirty smokestacks and oil spills, but when we've been calling something "natural" for so long, people are primed to see it as the cleaner alternative.
This, of course, is by design. For nearly a century, gas companies have advertised "natural" gas as a cleaner, healthier alternative fuel. The industry has spent decades calling methane a "bridge" fuel to get us from coal and oil to clean renewables. But there's nothing clean about methane gas. It is dirty, polluting fossil fuel just like coal, only different. It's like losing a limb versus breaking a bone, both hurt just in different ways.
This matters because cutting methane emissions is the fastest way to cut emissions and slow warming. Scientists say that reducing methane emissions 45% by 2030 could prevent half a degree of global warming. Every little bit of a degree matters. Every little bit of a degree is thousands of lives. Like I said, I'm not writing this to guilt anyone but I think it's important to know what exactly methane gas is. Pennsylvania is the second-highest methane gas producing state in the country. When you look at how much that is and how potent methane is, Pennsylvania is responsible for 1% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. That's huge! And that's a powerful industry we have to fight. So I think it's helpful to just know what is being talked about when you hear "natural gas" or "bridge fuel." Renewable energy is more affordable than its ever been. A new gas plant commits 20-30 years of future emissions. What are we doing? Knowing what we're talking about is a good start.