Resources on Why and How to Replace Gas
The following provides links to the latest research, reports and other resources on gas' climate impacts, its health and safety risks, and cleaner alternatives.
Climate Impacts
- Climate Nexus, “U.S. Oil/Gas Methane Emissions Science Tracker”
- Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the United Nations Environment Programme, “Global Methane Assessment”
- Global Energy Monitor, “The Gas Index” (ranks cities by gas leakage)
- Environmental Defense Fund, “Methane: The Other Important Greenhouse Gas”
- NOAA, “Trends in Atmospheric Methane”
- Benjamin Hmiel et al., “Preindustrial 14CH4 Indicates Greater Anthropogenic Fossil CH4 Emissions," Nature 578, 409–412 (2020)
- International Energy Agency, “Tracking Fuel Supply 2019: Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas” (2019)
- E.G. Nesbit et al., “Very Strong Atmospheric Methane Growth in the 4 Years 2014-2017: Implications for the Paris Agreement,” Feb. 5, 2019, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (March 2019)
- I.B. Ocko et al., “Acting rapidly to deploy readily available methane mitigation measures by sector can immediately slow global warming,” May 4, 2021, Environmental Research Letters
Health & Safety Risks
- Climate Nexus, “Gas Dashboard” (provides gas incident data)
- U.S. Geological Survey, “How Much Water Does the Typical Hydraulically Fractured Well Require”
- Brady Seals and Andee Krasner, “Gas Stoves: Health and Air Quality Impacts” (2020), Rocky Mountain Institute
- Yifang Zhu et al., “Effects of Residential Gas Appliances on Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality and Public Health in California,” UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, April 2020
- Justin Nobel, “America’s Radioactive Secret,” Rolling Stone, Jan. 21, 2020
- Anna Kuchment, “Even if Injection of Fracking Wastewater Stops, Quakes Won’t,” Scientific American, Sept. 9, 2019
- Justin Mikulka, “Fracking’s Dirty Water Problem,” Desmog, Aug. 2, 2019
- Klara Zwickl, “The Demographics of Fracking: A Spatial Analysis for Four U.S. States,” Ecological Economics, July 2019
- Center for International Environmental Law, “Plastic and Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet” (2019)
- Sarah Sax, “Plastics are Sealing the Planet’s Fate,’ Nexus Media News, May 15, 2019
- Jiajia Zhen and Sangwon Suh, “Strategies to Reduce the Global Carbon Footprint of Plastics,” Nature, April 15, 2019
- Maria Beatrice Magnani et al., “Discriminating Between Natural Versus Induced Seismicity from Long-Term Deformation History of Intraplate Faults,” Sciences Advances (AAAS), Nov. 24, 2017
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Hydraulic Fracturing For Oil and Gas: Impacts From the Hydraulic Fracturing Water Cycle on Drinking Water Resources In the United States (Final Report)” (2016)
- Rob Jordan, “Stanford Researchers Show Fracking’s Impact to Drinking Water Sources,” Stanford News, March 29, 2016
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Review of State and Industry Spill Data: Characterization of Hydraulic Fracturing-Related Spill Data” (May 2015)
- Tanja Srebotnjak and Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, “Air Pollution from Hydraulic Fracturing Threatens Public Health and Communities,” Natural Resources Defense Council, December 2014
- Thomas H. Darrah et al, “Noble Gases Identify the Mechanisms of Fugitive Gas Contamination in Drinking-Water Wells Overlying the Marcellus and Barnett Shales,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Sept. 15, 2014
- Ramón A. Alvarez and Elizabeth Paranhos, “Air Pollution Issues Associated With Natural Gas and Oil Operations,” Air and Waste Management Association, June 2012
Cleaner Options
- Jonathan Gaventa and Maria Pastukhova, “Gas under pressure as IEA launches net-zero pathway,” Energy Monitor, May 18, 2021
- Saul Griffith and Sam Calisch, “No Place Like Home: Fighting Climate Change (and Saving Money) by Electrifying America’s Households,” Rewiring America (October 2020)
- Saul Griffith and Sam Calisch, “Mobilizing for a Zero Carbon America: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs,” Rewiring America (July 2020)
- Earthjustice and Sierra Club, “Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Myth of ‘Renewable Natural Gas’ for Building Decarbonization’” (July 2020)
- Amol Phadke et al., “Plummeting Solar, Wind, and Battery Costs Can Accelerate Our Clean Electricity Future” (The 2035 Report), University of California Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, June 2020
- Amol Phadke et al., “Plummeting Solar, Wind, and Battery Costs Can Accelerate Our Clean Electricity Future” (The 2035 Report), University of California Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, June 2020
- Ben Beachy, “Millions of Good Jobs: A Plan for Economic Renewal,” Sierra Club, May 2020
- Rachel Golden and Cara Bottorff, “New Analysis: Heat Pumps Slow Climate Change in Every Corner of the Country,” Sierra Club, April 23, 2020
- Matt Gough, “California’s Cities Lead the Way to a Gas-Free Future,” Sierra Club, March 27, 2020
- Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, “IEEFA Update: In Extremis – Crisis Continues for Appalachian Shale Producers,” March 25, 2020
- Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, “IEEFA Update: Fracking Companies’ 2019 Performance Signals Ongoing Crisis,” March 19, 2020
- Charles Teplin et al., “The Growing Market for Clean Energy Portfolios” (2019), Rocky Mountain Institute
- Mark Dyson et al., “Prospects for Gas Pipelines in the Era of Clean Energy” (2019), Rocky Mountain Institute
- Rocky Mountain Institute, “The Impact of Fossil Fuels in Buildings” (2019)
- Lazard, “Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis – Version 13.0,” November 2019
- Betony Jones et al., “California Building Decarbonization Workforce Needs and Recommendations,” UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, November 2019
- Oil Change International, “Burning the Gas ‘Bridge Fuel’ Myth: Why Gas is Not Clean, Cheap, or Necessary,” May 30, 2019
- Mark Dyson, Alex Engel and Jamil Farbes, “The Economics of Clean Energy Portfolios” (2018), Rocky Mountain Institute
- Asa S. Hopkins et al., “Decarbonization of Heating Energy Use in California Buildings,” Synapse Energy Economics, Inc., October 2018
- Sherri Billimoria et al., “The Economics of Electrifying Buildings” (2018), Rocky Mountain Institute