Local communities want to electrify, but gas interests have other ideas.
by Nick Bowlin, High Country News
Gunnison, Colorado, at 7,700 feet above sea level, sees some of the coldest temperatures in the Lower 48. Its 6,000 or so inhabitants, especially low-income residents in older, poorly insulated housing, use more energy — often from natural gas — than their lowland counterparts.
Last year, Gunnison’s city government proposed cutting both greenhouse gas emissions and utility bills by making new homes more efficient and less reliant on fossil fuels.
But Gunnison soon encountered the same obstacle that other communities do when they try to move toward electric heat pumps, stoves and water heaters: natural gas providers.
By vigorously campaigning against electrification policies in what are normally local battles, national natural gas utilities have opened a new front in the decarbonization struggle: building codes.
Building codes can either accelerate local carbon emission reductions or lock in fossil fuel infrastructure, according to David Konisky, a professor at Indiana University who studies environmental and energy politics and policy. When code changes nibble at utilities’ market share, however, the corporations bite back.
“It’s not surprising that they will fight against these reforms,” Konisky said. “It’s cutting into their standard business model of people using natural gas for cooking or heating in their homes.”
Recent Posts
200 Caring People Are Ready To Sail On The Freedom Flotilla To Gaza
April 25, 2024
Take Action Now For decades, corporations have used taxpayer-funded fellowship opportunities to help them secure billion-dollar defense contracts.…
Is The Iran Nuclear Deal Dead Forever?
April 25, 2024
Take Action Now Trump blew up the deal — why hasn’t Biden taken the opportunity to fix it? by Bob Dreyfuss, Tom Dispatch One, erratic and…
Big Oil Wants To Limit Safety Checks On CO2 Pipelines
April 25, 2024
Take Action Now After a leak in Sulphur, Louisiana, experts and residents express grave concerns about the fossil fuel industry’s carbon capture…
Columbia, NYU, The New School…MIT, Tufts, Emerson… Berkeley, Chicago, Chapel Hill… Everywhere…
April 24, 2024
Take Action Now For decades, corporations have used taxpayer-funded fellowship opportunities to help them secure billion-dollar defense contracts.…