Editor:
I was so excited to see the article about a family exploring net zero, and I commend both the family themselves and the Record for sharing this lovely story and spreading the message of how many solutions already exist and what can be done when we all pull together.
However, my heart sunk when I saw it included promoting Fortis’s “RNG” renewable natural gas — a blatantly ineffective greenwash campaign from a desperately scrambling fossil fuel corporation. The entire RNG program is a false solution that exists to help cover up the fact that they are actively pushing to keep expanding our use of methane, which is one of the most dangerous and damaging greenhouse gasses we produce; methane traps 84 x more heat than CO2 over a 20-year period. By Fortis’ own best estimate, RNG (which is naturally occurring methane mostly produced from landfills and animals) will one day be at most three per cent of their total production. It also can’t actually provide any one family access to that RNG — they get the same blend with one per cent or less of it being “renewable," despite the extra charge being levied.
Worse yet, it is not being used to replace or phase out fracked gas — instead it legitimizes the continued expansion of “natural gas” projects despite the significant increase in emissions it causes and the horrific mining process that’s wreaking havoc with northern ecosystems, creating toxic lakes out of what were beautifully clean B.C. rivers.
The best use for RNG is to provide more ethical gas where it is truly impossible at this point to provide other options. Promising RNG to unsuspecting customers serves to lure good people to stay with or add themselves as new customers with fossil fuel companies. We cannot afford to give them this excuse to increase their production of all types of methane.
The most recent report from international scientists is clear; we need to stop using fossil fuels as fast as possible. Decreasing emissions overall requires that RNG be used only as a last resort as we grandfather ourselves off of the fossil fuels that are killing our children’s hopes of a livable planet — be they natural coal, natural oil or natural gas, we’ve consumed them at an unnatural rate for too long, and it is causing very unnatural global disasters in the form of deadly droughts, fires, floods, heat domes and storms.
I completely sympathize with the predicament of the Pistor family because they are sadly correct; heat pumps are expensive to install. The City of New Westminster has staff available to help guide households seeking to make the switch from fossil fuels to clean hydro-electric, including navigating the rebate process, but more could be done to subsidize citizens who are willing to take these steps.
B.C. and Canada need to end tax cuts and incentives for fossil fuel producers like Fortis and pour those funds into real solutions, ones that lower production and channel energy sector growth into green technology and electrification. (Read Seth Klein’s A Good War for some excellent analysis and proof this is possible to accomplish while also meeting goals of supporting workers and helping communities thrive).
Fortis “RNG” is just greenwashing that bamboozles and hoodwinks those who care about their children and are doing their best build a better future for them. It’s disheartening to see the proliferation of false solutions that distract from real change and play on those who honestly have the best interests of our entire planet at heart. It shows once again how much we need better regulation and real leadership to end this era of fossil foolery.
Maureen Curran and Karen Crosby
