Pumpkin spice products and Halloween decorations are starting to appear in stores, which means the holidays are around the corner. It also means colder weather is approaching soon. Average temperatures in Pennsylvania in November will fall into the low 50s, then will fall another 10 degrees in December.
This winter, fortunately, more residents will have a clean, reliable, safe alternative for heating their homes: natural gas. This resource has become essential to our everyday lives and there are plenty of reasons that is so.
First, and most important, is that it’s affordable. We have an abundant supply of this resource that will last into the next century, and possibly beyond. According to a new report from the Consumers Energy Alliance, natural gas has saved residential customers in the commonwealth more than $13 billion over the past decade. At a time when we were climbing out of a recession, those dollars were more than welcome. Natural gas kept us warm and solvent.
Furthermore, more Americans are using this resource and, as we have done so, total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. have fallen. That’s because natural gas is cleaner than coal or oil.
Innovation will continue to drive down natural gas emissions and cost. It’s an important complement to renewable sources of power because of its reliability. (You can’t turn on the sun, after all, when you want to take a hot shower.)
In Pennsylvania, there’s been some debate about the safety of gas exploration and distribution, particularly about pipelines. Much of this, unfortunately, has been ill-informed and ideologically driven, not driven by what’s best for our consumers, manufacturers and job market.
When we consider the safety of natural gas, it’s worth remembering that natural gas exploration and the pipelines are heavily regulated on the state and federal levels. It’s also in the industry’s best interest to not have operations break down. That’s why natural gas utilities invest tens of millions of dollars each year to help improve the safety of their transmission and distribution systems.
The weather is about to turn cold, but we have these facts to warm us.
James T. Kunz Jr.
Downtown
The writer is business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66.
First Published: October 9, 2018, 4:00 a.m.
