PORTLAND, Oregon — A new report released today by the Sierra Club and Breach Collective finds that NW Natural has taken advantage of Senate Bill 98 (SB 98), a law that it authored and supported, to pour more than $60 million in ratepayer dollars into out-of-state biomethane projects that have failed to meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions, driven localized pollution, and contributed to the most pollution-intensive forms of industrial animal agriculture.
SB 98 allows gas utilities to invest in so-called “renewable natural gas” or biomethane, even if the fuel is significantly more expensive than methane gas. According to reporting, the primary motivation of gas utilities in promoting SB 98 was to avoid emissions reduction requirements that would have reduced their gas customer base. Sierra Club and Breach Collective’s report finds that the law has allowed ratepayer dollars to flow to the most polluting slaughterhouses in the United States, contributing to local air and water pollution while failing to reduce gas demand or climate emissions. Meanwhile, despite spending tens of millions of ratepayer dollars on biomethane projects, NW Natural has failed to meaningfully reduce gas demand or climate emissions.
“SB 98 was sold as a climate solution, but in practice it has become a subsidy for industrial animal agriculture and a lifeline for a gas utility trying to avoid real emissions reductions,” said Danny Noonan, Climate, Energy & Labor Strategist at Breach Collective and co-author of the report.
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