METHANE GAS: HEALTH, SAFETY, & DECARBONIZATION Setting the record straight

SOCAN endorses this report:

Nick Caleb, J.D., LL.M., Breach Collective
Katherine Muller, Ph.D.
Dineen O’Rourke, 350PDX
Anne Pernick, Stand.earth
Melanie Plaut, M.D.
Dylan Plummer, Sierra Club
Daniel Serres, Columbia Riverkeeper
Brian Stewart, Electrify Now
Noelle Studer-Spevak, M.S., M.P,A., Families for Climate
Theodora Tsongas, Ph.D., M.S.
Ann Turner, M.D.

Introduction

On May 6, 2021, the United Nations released its Global Methane Assessment and the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) director, Inger Anderson stated “Cutting methane is the strongest
lever we have to slow climate change over the next 25 years…We need international cooperation to
urgently reduce methane emissions as much as possible this decade.’’

A few weeks later, the historically fossil fuel-friendly International Energy Agency issued a roadmap to
net zero emissions by 2050 that recommends a rapid decline in the use of coal, oil, and gas, notably
including banning the sale of new oil and gas furnaces by 2025.

In truth, the only way to reach carbon emissions reduction targets at the global, national, and state
level, and to improve indoor and ambient air quality for vulnerable communities, is to switch to
renewable electricity wherever practically feasible (i.e. residential customers) and reserve limited
biomethane and green hydrogen resources for hard-to-electrify mobile combustion uses, heavy
industry, and energy storage.

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