Dear Friend,

Suing the state to delay climate action. Funding an expensive overseas trip for lawmakers. Bankrolling misleading testimony. 

It seems NW Natural Gas will try just about anything to continue polluting the climate and the air in our homes. Their latest dirty trick: Promoting the prospect of hydrogen in our homes to Oregon lawmakers — a risky, costly, and unrealistic alternative to their already dangerous and unhealthy methane gas.

We cannot allow this misleading and harmful hydrogen hype to go unchallenged. Burning hydrogen in buildings is dangerous for climate and public health – releasing up to 6x more polluting nitrogen oxide (NOx) than methane gas when burned. Can we count on you to alert your legislators to this misinformation campaign and push back on NW Natural’s latest smokescreen?

With their deep pockets and downplaying of climate and public health harms, it seems NW Natural will pay and say anything to distract from the fact that electrification is the safest and cleanest energy option for heating, cooling, hot water, and cooking. It’s up to us to sound the alarm on NW Natural’s troubling record, which includes: 

• Funding a trip to Denmark for Oregon lawmakers alongside a NW Natural lobbyist and top company executives, apparently to promote so-called “renewable natural gas” — biomethane gas — which is costly, has a significant carbon footprint, and faces major production constraints.1
• Deploying deceptive marketing tactics straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook, including paying a toxicologist who testified to Multnomah County commissioners and downplayed the public health risks of cooking with gas — despite decades of evidence to the contrary — without disclosing her NW Natural funding.2
• Spending a million dollars to fight electrification efforts in Eugene and Milwaukie that would protect public health and empower local communities to reduce pollution.3
• Suing the state to undermine our Climate Protection Program, a historic effort to turn the tide on the climate crisis in Oregon and benefit communities.4

And that’s just some of the lowlights. The public and policymakers deserve transparency, not this fossil fuel-funded smokescreen. With your help, we can start to shed some light. Email your lawmakers TODAY and warn them not to buy NW Natural Hype!
 

Thank you,

Julia DeGraw
Coalition Director, OLCV

(1) https://www.salemreporter.com/2023/11/16/oregon-legislators-journey-to-denmark-with-costs-picked-up-by-special-interests/
(2) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/climate/gas-stove-health.html
(3) https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/nw-natural-pac-gathers-enough-signatures-to-put-eugene-gas-ban-up-to-public-vote/article_f9a2ea98-d967-11ed-9782-878fe1c35a30.html
(4) https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2023/09/29/gas-oil-companies-argue-against-oregons-emission-deadlines-during-court-of-appeals-hearing/