Big Gas's Dirty Little Secret: The Industry's 70-Year Lie About Natural Gas
Big Gas, not Big Oil, has been driving the hydrocarbon industry's growth story. The rapid rise of electric vehicles (EVs) has undercut projections of future oil use, and by 2030, oil consumption should be decreasing. Natural gas, used for heating, cooking, and generating electricity, is where the fossil fuel industry has focused on building its market.
The gas industry claims natural gas is clean and cheap, but two recent reports reveal these claims are false. A Center for Climate Integrity report led by Rebecca Leber and Rebecca John documents how the natural gas industry has been lying about its environmental impact since the 1950s. They constructed a mythology around natural gas, branding it as a 'bridge fuel' to a renewable energy future.
The industry solidified this myth over 20 years by co-opting science and oversight. They used strategies crafted by firms that undermined the scientific consensus on tobacco's harms, aggressively challenging methane science through industry-funded studies. Meanwhile, they positioned gas as clean, pairing it with promoting carbon dioxide concerns and stressing voluntary emissions management.
A report from Oil Change International reveals the industry is running out of cheap natural gas. The Permian and Appalachian shales that have been pumping for two decades are playing out fast, forcing the industry to turn to more expensive wells in the Haynesville shale.