{"id":71192,"date":"2025-06-10T10:22:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T14:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=71192"},"modified":"2025-12-22T16:38:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T21:38:57","slug":"mythbusting-isnt-natural-gas-clean-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/71192\/mythbusting-isnt-natural-gas-clean-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Mythbusting: Isn\u2019t \u201cnatural\u201d gas clean energy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, it\u2019s natural<\/em> gas.\u201d Sounds harmless, right? Almost like something you\u2019d find bubbling out of a mountain spring.<\/p>\n\n

We use natural gas to cook, heat buildings, make electricity, and power our biggest industries. In fact, it supplies about a quarter<\/a> of the world\u2019s energy. It\u2019s too bad that the harmless label hides a dirty truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Natural gas is a major source of planet-heating pollution. Gas companies love to call their product \u201cclean,\u201d but here\u2019s why that claim doesn\u2019t hold up.<\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s a fossil fuel, just like oil and coal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Let\u2019s start by calling \u201cnatural\u201d gas what it really is \u2013 fossil gas<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Fossil gas is a fossil fuel, just like oil and coal. All fossil fuels come from the remains of plants, animals, and plankton that lived and died millions of years ago. When we burn them for energy, we pollute the atmosphere with extra carbon dioxide. And that\u2019s the main greenhouse gas driving climate change.<\/p>\n\n

People say fossil gas is cleaner than oil or coal because it releases less carbon dioxide when it\u2019s burned<\/a>. Less <\/em>doesn\u2019t mean clean<\/em>, though.<\/strong> It\u2019s still responsible for about 22% of the pollution from fossil fuels. That\u2019s not far behind oil at 32% and coal at 45%.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The truth is that any extra carbon dioxide in the air adds fuel to the fire of climate change. And carbon pollution isn\u2019t even the only problem with fossil gas.<\/p>\n\n

It leaks methane<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
\"\"
A sign marks a gas pipeline connected to the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. A massive methane gas leak at the facility was discovered in 2015. It was one of the largest gas leaks ever recorded and forced thousands of residents away from their homes. \u00a9 David McNew \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

There\u2019s another powerful greenhouse gas in fossil gas. It\u2019s called methane<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

In its first 20 years in the atmosphere, methane has about 84 times<\/a> more warming power than carbon dioxide! That makes it a dangerous gas for our climate.<\/p>\n\n

It escapes when fossil gas is pulled from the ground, processed, and piped to homes and businesses. Scientists have found huge methane leaks<\/a> at fossil gas sites around the world, including in Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

These leaks could make fossil gas just as bad for the climate as coal<\/a>, or even worse. They may also be the biggest threat<\/a> to reaching our goal of cooling the world\u2019s rising temperatures and calming climate change.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

You\u2019ll hear fossil gas companies talking about how clean their product is. They don\u2019t talk so much about what leaks out before it even reaches your stove or furnace.<\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s not just bad for the climate \u2013 fossil gas harms our health, communities, and nature<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
\"\"
A pipeline explosion sends flames hundreds of feet into the air, causing evacuations and road closures in Deer Park, Texas, in 2024. \u00a9 Reginald Mathalone \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Fossil gas pollution is bad for our health. <\/strong>When fossil gas is made, moved, or burned, it releases harmful chemicals into the air. Methane is only one. These chemicals can cause breathing problems, lung diseases, and cancer<\/a>. Even your gas stove can pollute the air inside your home for hours<\/a> \u2013 something that\u2019s especially risky for kids with asthma.<\/p>\n\n

The impacts aren\u2019t felt equally.<\/strong> Indigenous communities in Alberta, for instance, are more likely to live near fossil fuel facilities and face higher health risks<\/a> from the pollution. This is an impact that is now being accelerated<\/a> by the construction of massive AI Data Centres that require enormous amounts of power and are primarily powered by fossil gas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Rising gas prices also mean some people can\u2019t afford to heat their homes. That\u2019s called energy poverty<\/strong>, and it\u2019s a growing problem in Canada and around the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Nature pays a price, too.<\/strong> Gas pipelines, wells, and access roads cut through forests, destroy habitats, and pollute the air and soil.<\/p>\n\n

So why stick with a fuel that heats the planet, harms our health, and hurts communities? Especially when we don\u2019t have to?<\/p>\n\n

A cleaner, safer future isn\u2019t a myth<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Cleaner, renewable choices are already here, like solar and wind power. Some cities and provinces are already making the switch.<\/p>\n\n

Vancouver<\/a> has banned fossil gas heating in many new buildings. Quebec<\/a> plans to phase out gas heating in homes by 2040. Similar bans are happening throughout Canada and around the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

These bans are about more than cutting carbon. They\u2019re about building safer, healthier homes powered by clean electricity.<\/p>\n\n

And you can help make it happen faster.<\/p>\n\n

Speak up. Call on your local and federal governments to speed up the switch to renewable energy and climate-friendly buildings<\/strong>. Let\u2019s stop pouring money into polluting fuels when we could build a cleaner, healthier future for everyone and the planet.<\/p>\n\n

\n
Tell Canada’s government to invest in heat pumps<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, it\u2019s natural gas.\u201d Sounds harmless, right? Almost like something you\u2019d find bubbling out of a mountain spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":71184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"Mythbusting: Isn\u2019t \u201cnatural\u201d gas clean energy?","p4_og_description":"\u201cDon\u2019t worry, it\u2019s natural gas.\u201d Sounds harmless, right? Almost like something you\u2019d find bubbling out of a mountain spring.","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[188],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-71192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-education","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71192"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73370,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71192\/revisions\/73370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71192"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=71192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}