As seen in the Dulles airport. This ad from the American Petroleum Institute—US oil/gas trade association—is straight-up disinformation that perpetuates two big lies. Quick explainer thread—in case you need to unmask this ubiquitous untruth for any of your holiday houseguests. 1/ 
*CLEANER ENERGY*
Compared to what? Coal? Nope natural gas is not cleaner than coal. Methane leaks + nitrogen oxides make gas power plants and upstream infrastructure a major source of smog. Clear evidence shows health harms among people who live near gas wells and gas plants. 2/
Compared to what? Coal? Nope natural gas is not cleaner than coal. Methane leaks + nitrogen oxides make gas power plants and upstream infrastructure a major source of smog. Clear evidence shows health harms among people who live near gas wells and gas plants. 2/
Here is a good summary of air pollution from gas-fired power plants. 4/ blog.ucsusa.org/mark-specht/na…
Does CLEANER ENERGY mean gas is cleaner than gas used to be? Also no. New gas wells, new pipelines, and new gas plants are just as leaky as the old ones. And old wells leak even after they are decommissioned. Bc fracking requires a constant build out of new wells...5/
...air pollution continues to get worse even if levels of methane and toxic emissions per well improve. Air quality is going to hell in Colorado’s front range because of the sheer rate of gas and oil build out. Cumulative impacts are a bitch. google.com/amp/s/amp.theg… 6/
We can even monetize the CLEANER ENERGY lie. The social cost of US oil and gas, 2005-2015, is $600 billion. Most of that represents morbidity and mortality from the resulting air pollution. Also declining crop yields as plants are sensitive to smog too. 8/
Now let’s look at the second claim: LOWER EMISSIONS. This is also a lie. Carbon emissions that trap heat and contribute to global warming come in two flavors: carbon dioxide CO2 and methane CH4. While natural gas emits less CO2 than coal, it generates tons more CH4. 9/
In sum, this 2nd lie depends on you not understanding that “carbon” is more than just the first name for “carbon dioxide.” Carbon emissions also include methane emissions And global methane levels are SURGING right now. Shale gas fracking in N. America is driving that surge. 9/
At least 34 percent of the current increase in global methane levels are from North American fracking operations. In other words, US natural gas is responsible for a huge chunk of the climate crisis. news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/0… 10/
Also, methane is, molecule for molecule, way more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat over a 20 yr period. It’s a higher proof greenhouse gas. Claiming that natural gas results in “lower emissions” is like claiming six shots of whiskey will make you less drunk than six beers. 11/
But let’s say we could eliminate methane emissions from natural gas (which is not possible because venting is required to keep the whole deal from literally blowing up). Even then, natural gas would take us over the climate cliff—just from the CO2 emissions alone. 12/
In sum, it doesn’t matter that the CO2 emissions of gas are “lower” than coal if they are still sufficient to crash the climate. And the are. Best research here is by @PriceofOil. Great summation of which by David Roberts @drvox:
google.com/amp/s/www.vox.… 13/
google.com/amp/s/www.vox.… 13/
This is the rebuttal: Natural gas is not cleaner than coal, nor cleaner than it used to be. Natural gas is making air pollution worse.
Natural gas does not lower greenhouse gas emissions. It’s raising them—esp when the potent ability of methane to trap heat is factored in. 14/
Natural gas does not lower greenhouse gas emissions. It’s raising them—esp when the potent ability of methane to trap heat is factored in. 14/
The power of this ad to deceive rests on the fact that coal is a piles of black rocks and natural gas is an invisible vapor. So it seems cleaner, lighter, lesser.
Natural gas is a blond woman against a white background.
Natural gas is the Virginia Slims of fossil fuels. 16/
Natural gas is a blond woman against a white background.
Natural gas is the Virginia Slims of fossil fuels. 16/
If our eyes could see methane plumes, the lie of clean, lower-emission natural gas would be instantly unmasked. That’s why @TXsharon’s images, which inspired these NYT photographers, are the antidote to disinformation.
Show them to your houseguests. nytimes.com/interactive/20… 17/
Show them to your houseguests. nytimes.com/interactive/20… 17/
18/ As for API’s third claim *WE’RE ON IT* I humbly concur. They are definitely on something. Whatever it is, don’t let them put your loved ones on it too. 18/ FIN
[With apologies for my enumeration problem. I actually got As in calculus but have trouble numbering threads.😔]
[With apologies for my enumeration problem. I actually got As in calculus but have trouble numbering threads.😔]
