Heat of Change: Natural Gas Decarbonization and the Quest for Climate Justice

As municipalities focus on reducing emissions and achieving a carbon-neutral future, determining how to equitably decarbonize operations will be a core part of achieving local climate goals. The City of Charlottesville aims to reduce 45% of its emissions by 2030 to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. As part of these efforts, the City launched a Decarbonization Study to investigate how the local gas utility can be part of the solution [1]. The utility plays an important role in the comfort and ease of local residents by supplying gas for heating and cooking and distributing it over a large network of pipelines throughout the city. However, natural gas infrastructure and distribution do not exist in a vacuum. If Charlottesville wants to craft equitable solutions and achieve local emissions reductions, further consideration of the environmental, health, and justice implications of natural gas and its life cycle is needed. 

In this blog post, C3 explores natural gas's upstream and downstream effects to advocate for just decarbonization.

Figure 1: Charlottesville’s GHG emissions reduction targets, as visualized in the Climate Action Plan.

Understanding the Environmental and Health Impacts of Natural Gas

When considering the long-term viability of natural gas infrastructure, decision-makers and advocates must consider its upstream and downstream impacts, which can be understood as the side effects of certain practices during its production, transport, consumption, and disposal of byproducts. Natural gas production processes majorly contribute to carbon emissions ranging from localized gas leaks to global warming, resulting in serious consequences on human and environmental health. While a municipal gas utility may not be causing these harms directly, it must recognize that the continued use of natural gas perpetuates fossil fuel infrastructure and climate pollution. 

During natural gas extraction, the method of fracking poses certain environmental risks because it requires a massive amount of freshwater [2][3], which will exacerbate water scarcity as global warming and weather extremes continue to increase. Flaring and venting [4], a common part of the production process, directly cause air pollution by releasing methane into the atmosphere. High exposure to these pollutants poses serious health risks for nearby communities including respiratory and neurological issues, cardiovascular damage, and premature mortality [5]. Similar to other fossil fuel processes, historically disadvantaged people often bear the brunt of these impacts, underscoring that decarbonization is a climate justice issue.  

Figure 2: A flare burns associated natural gas on an oil pad on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation on Oct. 27, 2021

Once extracted, natural gas is then distributed through transmission pipelines, which often contaminate air and waterways and require large portions of land to be constructed [6]. This infrastructure permanently affects wildlife habitats; by 2030, the Marcellus Shale region in the eastern United States could clear up to 150,000 acres of forest for these projects [7]. Proposals like the Mountain Valley Pipeline Extension in Virginia bring these issues to local neighborhoods [8], generating a greater burden of noise pollution and reduced property values that disproportionately affect low-income and vulnerable communities [9]. This infrastructure guarantees further reliance on natural gas, making it more costly and less feasible to decarbonize at any scale. Moreover, once these pipelines are in operation, they are prone to leak. 

Figure 3: A visualization of the transmission of natural gas, from extraction to distribution.

As C3 explored previously, the City of Charlottesville averages over 100 gas leaks annually [10]. Many of these leaks can remain unaddressed for years, continuing to pollute and posing a risk of explosion. On average, communities of color face these threats at a much higher rate than white neighborhoods as well because the density of these leaks increases by nearly 40% [11]. Considering these implications, continuing to support natural gas infrastructure seems contradictory for reaching carbon goals and advancing environmental justice. 

What Can Charlottesville Do?

With these consequences of natural gas infrastructure in mind, more robust action is needed to truly decarbonize Charlottesville. Transformative solutions can address these health and environmental issues and reduce the exacerbation of inequitable leak distribution and household energy costs [12]. The most recent update of the Decarbonization Study–despite recognizing that natural gas is not sustainable–does not offer any insight into how Charlottesville can transition away [13]. This calls into question the efficiency and local impact of the City’s decarbonization strategy, as well as who and what is being prioritized in this process. 

Are Carbon Offsets the Way Forward?

A cornerstone of the Decarbonization Plan is the purchasing of carbon offsets from BP to reduce emissions [14]. However, offsets are not a holistic or sustainable solution and do not address local justice concerns because these credits invest in global carbon projects [15], meaning that Charlottesville residents wouldn’t receive any benefits. Furthermore, many of these offset projects aren’t reliable because they don’t guarantee permanent reductions or lack sufficient public information about their efficacy [16]. Often additional justice issues occur like leaks in emissions or shifting them elsewhere, and one study found that purchasing BP carbon credits came at the risk of forced labor in Uyghur [17][18]. 

If Charlottesville continues investment in carbon offsets as its strategy to reduce local emissions, offsets must be tied to permanent emission-reducing activities that don’t lead to additional harm elsewhere. Once the City’s carbon offsets contract ends with BP, that money can be spent locally to alleviate energy burdens and invest in clean energy. Purchasing offsets relies on the understanding that a municipality's emissions affect not only its residents but the entire world. Charlottesville must recognize that its gas use is tied to global fossil fuel infrastructure, the effects of which are felt within and beyond its city limits.  

Beyond Gas: Prioritizing Climate Justice in Charlottesville's Decarbonization Journey

The Decarbonization Study continues to emphasize a natural gas-oriented solution while failing to address the upstream and downstream impacts of natural gas production and distribution. Climate justice will not be realized until more powerful strategies that reduce energy burden, fix leaks, and disincentivize gas use are implemented to decarbonize municipalities. If Charlottesville wants to accomplish its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, it will take a more targeted and ambitious effort to achieve this. The ongoing study presents a great opportunity to get the ball rolling and advocate for transformative solutions that directly improve the health of the families, neighborhoods, and communities most at stake. It’s time to take decarbonization seriously and begin this transition for a greener future. 

Endnotes

[1] City of Charlottesville (2023). “Decarbonization Study.” Available at: https://www.charlottesville.gov/1642/Decarbonization-Study. 

[2] Fracking is the process of fracturing bedrock with fluid to allow natural gas and oil to flow freely.

[3] NRDC (2019). “Fracking 101.” Available at: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fracking-101#. 

[4] Flaring and venting occur when oil field operators opt to burn the "associated" gas that accompanies oil production, or simply release it to the atmosphere, rather than to build the equipment and pipelines to capture it.

[5] Black, K.J. et al (2021). “Economic, Environmental, and Health Impacts of the Fracking Boom.” Available at: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-110320-092648. 

[6] NRDC (2021). “Gas Pipelines: Harming Clean Water, People, and the Planet.” Available at: https://www.nrdc.org/bio/amy-mall/gas-pipelines-harming-clean-water-people-and-planet. 

[7] Earthworks (n.d.). “Pipelines.” Available at https://earthworks.org/issues/pipelines/. 

[8] CCAN (2019). “No New Fossil Fuels in Virginia.” Available at: https://chesapeakeclimate.org/virginia/no-new-pipelines-virginia/. 

[9] Eos (2021). “America’s Natural Gas Pipeline Routes and Environmental Justice.” Available at:https://eos.org/research-spotlights/americas-natural-gas-pipeline-routes-and-environmental-justice. 

[10] C3 (2024). “Why is Gas Leaking and Who’s Affected? (Blog Three).” Available at: https://theclimatecollaborative.org/blog/2024/2/2/new-year-new-fuel-recommendations-for-the-cville-gas-decarbonization-study. 

[11]  EDF (2022). “Study: Gas Leaks More Common among Low-Income Neighborhoods and Communities of Color.” Available at: https://www.edf.org/media/study-gas-leaks-more-common-among-low-income-neighborhoods-and-communities-color. 

[12] C3 (2024). “Why is Gas Leaking and Who’s Affected? (Blog Three).” 

[13] City of Charlottesville (2024). “Gas Decarbonization Study Update (March 2024).” Available at: https://charlottesvilleva.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2074/files/attachment/4891. 

[14] Credits or investments in worldwide environmental projects that aim to reduce emissions. These emission reductions “offset” those of a local municipality. 

[15] Lakhani, N. (2023).  “Revealed: Top Carbon Offset Projects May Not Cut Planet-Heating Emissions,” Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/19/do-carbon-credit-reduce-emissions-greenhouse-gases.

[16] 78% of the top 50 offset projects are categorized as junk because most of them have at least one fundamental failing that undermines the promised emissions cuts, making them worthless. [17] Finley-Brook, M. (2017). Justice and Equity in Carbon Offset Governance: Debates and Dilemmas.” Available at: https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=geography-faculty-publications.  

[18] Greenfield, P. et al. (2023). “BP and Spotify bought carbon credits at risk of link to forced Uyghur labour in China.” Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/13/carbon-credits-at-risk-of-link-to-uyghur-forced-labour-bought-by-bp-and-spotify. 

Figures

Figure 1: City of Charlottesville (2022). “Climate Action Plan.” Available at: https://www.charlottesville.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8535/Charlottesville-Climate-Action-Plan---September-2022-PDF. 

Figure 2: WildEarth Guardians; from Inside Climate News (2023). “As Enforcement Falls Short, Many Worry That Companies Are Flouting New Mexico’s Landmark Gas Flaring Rules.” Available at: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25022022/flaring-venting-natural-gas-economics/. 

Figure 3: US Department of Transportation (2018). “Fact Sheet: Transmission Pipelines.” Available at: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/FactSheets/FSTransmissionPipelines.htm.