In our new report, we lay out how Massachusetts can move away from dirty gas for home heating and towards a clean future. We also offer a framework for other New England states to start kicking gas to the curb.
“Renewable natural gas” is not a large-scale climate solution. It’s a shameless attempt by the fossil fuel industry to convince New Englanders to pay for more polluting pipelines.
A recent report on transforming Rhode Island’s heating sector offers options to reach our climate goals while ensuring we stay warm during the winter. One of the first studies of its kind, the report is a valuable resource for policymakers and can help the state transition to a clean energy future.
Getting serious about climate change means getting serious about our gas use. It means all of us working together to build a clean energy future that doesn’t require the expensive and polluting buildout of more fracked gas. We don’t need it. And we can’t afford it.
Exactly a year ago, as families prepared for a brutal winter night, National Grid cut gas service to more than 7,000 customers on Aquidneck Island. With another New England winter upon us, it’s also worth noting that Rhode Island could avoid these types of emergencies entirely by switching from fossil fuels like gas to clean alternatives powered by solar and wind.
Fracked gas was once considered part of a lower-carbon future. But this volatile, dangerous, and polluting fossil fuel now needs to be shown the door. Thankfully, as New England’s growing investment in cleaner energy ramps up, this transition is becoming easier. But standing in its way are the last gasps of the dirty fossil fuel industry. And they are not going quietly.
Today, Invenergy was denied a permit to pave over a pristine forest in Burrillville to build a fracked gas and diesel oil power plant that would emit carbon pollution for decades. This is a victory for CLF, for the people of Burrillville, and for a world facing a climate emergency.
Here in New England, we rely too much on fracked gas to heat and power our homes and businesses. If we want to avoid a climate catastrophe, we need to end fossil fuel use by 2050.
