Last week, Mr. Lummus, CEO of Upstate SC Alliance, was correct when he offered “If our economic prosperity is going to continue in the next decades, we must build the infrastructure to prepare.” Unfortunately, he focused his essay on the wrong type of infrastructure.
This summer was the hottest ever on record. Just in the last week of October, our nation faced a bomb cyclone on the West Coast leading to mudslides and a Nor’easter while the Midwest faced tornadoes. As world leaders gather for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Scotland, the letter to the editor authored by Mr. Lummus was very misleading.
In his letter, Mr. Lummus missed an opportunity to advocate for renewable energy projects which, dollar for dollar, have a greater economic impact than any fossil fuel project. The health of all of us, especially our aging population, and that of our kids, depends on elimination of fossil fuels including natural gas (NG). The cost of NG is skyrocketing and projected to add $10-$20 to everyone’s monthly bill this winter. This project is a way for Duke Energy, parent Company of Piedmont Natural Gas, to increase the costs to heat our homes and businesses by passing these project costs directly onto you and me. A perfect example of this type of scheme is the VC Summer Nuclear Power Plant.
To stop the cascading effects of climate change, we must stop expanding the use of fossil fuels, including NG. NG is actually 70-90% methane (CH4), which is significantly worse for our health and the planet than carbon dioxide (CO2). This is where Mr. Lummus misleads the reader. While NG may be ‘cleaner’ than coal – it is still a nasty hydrocarbon and the Union of Concerned Scientists stated in 2014 that “the emissions from smokestacks and tailpipes do not tell the full story.”
“The drilling and extraction of natural gas from wells and its transportation in pipelines results in the leakage of methane, the primary component of natural gas, that is 34 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat over a 100-year period and 86 times stronger over 20 years.” [Source: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-natural-gas]
Burning NG in the home is toxic to your health. Switching your method of cooking to electricity will improve the health of your home by improving air quality when you cook or bake. RMI, an independent, non-partisan, non-profit that “utilizes market-based change strategies to decarbonize the world,” issued a report in 2020 stating that burning NG in homes is a threat to human health. Stoves using NG emit elevated indoor nitrogen dioxide (NO2) that often exceeds indoor guidelines and outdoor standards. Whereas the EPA’s national outdoor standard of NO2 is 100 parts per billion (ppb) / over 1 hour average, when you bake a cake, the measured NO2 emissions from gas ovens peak at 230 ppb. Leave the oven on without food inside and NO2 emissions can peak at 546 ppb.
NO2 is bad for adults but even worse for kids. The health effects of NO2 in children may include learning deficits, risk of childhood asthma, changed lung function, cardiovascular effects, and increased susceptibility to allergens. [source: https://rmi.org/insight/gas-stoves-pollution-health/]
If we want to build infrastructure that matters and that attracts future investment by entrepreneurs and other business leaders, we must invest in energy technologies that are actually clean and don’t require drilling, fracking, or methane leaks, or anything that gives our kids asthma.
Gary Harbour, Ph.D – Chemistry
Travelers Rest
"gas" - Google News
November 04, 2021 at 05:01PM
https://ift.tt/3q2EOND
Letter to the Editor: Natural gas is not the answer - Greenville Journal
"gas" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2LxAFvS
https://ift.tt/3fcD5NP
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Letter to the Editor: Natural gas is not the answer - Greenville Journal"
Post a Comment