
I would like to ask some sincere questions. When did natural gas become “public enemy number one”? Let me explain. Less than a decade ago, President Obama said this in his State of the Union address:
“America is closer to energy independence than we’ve been in decades. One of the reasons why is natural gas. If extracted safely, it’s the bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change. Businesses plan to invest almost $100 billion in new factories that use natural gas. I’ll cut red tape to help states get those factories built.”
And yet, barely nine years after Congress applauded the President’s statement about natural gas, various states and municipalities are currently trying to ban the use of this clean-burning fuel, with the focus now on Electrification and Decarbonization.
This makes me wonder: What scientific discoveries have occurred since 2014 to cause us to do a complete 180-degree turn regarding natural gas?
As I said earlier, my questions are sincere. I really want to understand what has happened. I get it that carbon emissions are not good. I get it that the earth’s average temperature has been rising during the past couple of generations. I get it that pollution is really bad.
In the 1960s and '70s, I grew up on Long Island Sound, and saw firsthand the effects of unchecked pollution. (By the way, I didn’t grow up ON Long Island Sound. That would’ve been rather soggy. It was a house about a quarter-mile away.) Anyway, we couldn’t quite ignite Clinton Harbor with a match, but the marine fuel slicks and raw sewage in the water were very noticeable. Efforts to clean the Sound over the past half-century have produced some terrific results.
So, I get it. The less we pollute the environment and the more we move away from burning fossil fuels, the better off we will be.
Right now, though, very little electricity in our nation is produced by wind and solar. There are some nuclear and hydro power facilities, but most of it is still generated by burning coal, oil, and/or natural gas.

I recently heard about a warehouse construction project in the Midwest where the consulting engineer specified natural gas-fired heating equipment. But the building owner made him change the design to all-electric heat pump units (which were WAY more expensive). The owner did not want to burn any fossil fuels onsite.
But since the local power utility still burns a significant amount of coal to generate electricity, it turns out the net carbon footprint of the building would be WORSE with all-electric heat pumps compared to gas-fired heaters.
Here are additional questions I have: Does the electric grid have the capacity to provide enough power if every building is converted to “all-electric”? If not, what is required to increase the grid’s capacity sufficiently, and when might that happen?
Also, when can we expect electricity generation to be all (or mostly) “green”; that is, no more fossil fuels needed?
So, if you have some answers to these questions, I’d love to hear from you. Or if you can point out some online articles, white papers, or videos that offer some insight, feel free to send me the link.
Bill Dunn, Engineering Sales, Melia Associates LLC 860-290-6969, bdunn@meliaassociates.com