COF 2020-50
Policy briefs on natural gas by Jessica Wright, BU URBAN Graduate Student
Dear Colleagues:
The attached one-pager and three policy briefs were prepared by Jessica Wright, a participating student in the Boston University Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (“BU URBAN”). Jessica’s research at BU has focused heavily on natural gas energy - specifically how gas leaks affect our urban canopy and research into transitions off of natural gas.
This summer, as part of the URBAN program, she completed an internship with my office, researching and writing the attached policy briefs on the public health impacts of natural gas, the job market impacts of natural gas, and the climate change impacts of transitioning away from natural gas as an energy source for buildings in Cambridge. I hope you find them helpful and informative in our ongoing climate and energy policy efforts.
Sincerely,
Councillor Zondervan
CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139
(617) 349-4280 FAX: (617) 349-4287 TTY/TDD: (617) 349-4242 EMAIL: ckelley@cambridgema.gov
Electrification & A Move Off of Natural Gas in Cambridge, MA - Fact Sheet
An energy transition to electricity and a move off of natural gas will help put Cambridge, MA on track to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The motivations for moving off of natural gas are outlined below and include the public health and safety, job market, and climate change implications of natural gas.
Public Health and Natural Gas:
Natural gas energy poses a threat to public health both by diminishing indoor air quality and damaging street trees that provide ecosystem services beneficial to human health. Indoor air quality in gas-serviced homes and businesses is degraded by combustion byproducts released by pilot light and gas stove burner ignitions.
Combustion byproducts are harmful chemicals proven to increase asthma exacerbations (asthma attacks of coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath), increase risk of respiratory infections, and have been linked to nausea, headaches, and fatigue. Outdoor air quality is impacted by leaking natural gas infrastructure, as leaks and odorant from the aging pipes pollute degrade outdoor air.
Gas leaks are linked to street tree damage and death, which significantly reduces their ecosystem services, including cleaning the air, providing shade, reducing the urban heat island effect, absorbing carbon dioxide, and encouraging recreational activity. Additionally, gas leaks inhibit the development of Cambridge’s urban forest master plan.
Job Creation and Natural Gas:
While the job market implications of electrification are challenging to quantify, the state of the science is encouraging of a multitude of jobs developing from a just energy transition plan: Clean energy jobs are numerous and growing as more demand for renewable energy develops. Solar and wind installation jobs are projected as two of the three most rapidly growing job markets in the country this coming decade. Ensuring a just transition for legacy fossil fuel and union workers will require complex planning.
Including these workers and energy stakeholders throughout the planning and implementation processes of energy transition will be crucial to successfully address community needs. Prioritizing and educating low-income and environmental justice communities throughout the energy transition will ensure a just transition for all Cambridge residents.
Providing security, funding, and retraining opportunities for legacy workers and new employees of the clean energy economy will help facilitate further support for an energy transition.
Climate Change and Natural Gas:
The climate change impacts of natural gas can no longer be ignored as Cambridge strives to lower carbon emissions, achieve robust climate goals, and grow their urban canopy. Leaking and aging natural gas distribution infrastructure corrodes and releases un-combusted natural gas, primarily methane, into the atmosphere contributing a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbating climate change effects in the city. Leaks damage urban vegetation and street trees. Methane from leaks infiltrate street tree soil pits and push oxygen out, leading to root damage and tree death, damaging the existing tree canopy.
*This one page document serves as a fact sheet. More details and bibliographical information can be found in the attached policy memos. 2
Public Health Impacts of Natural Gas - Policy Memo
1. Introduction: This policy memo is presented to the City Council of Cambridge, Massachusetts to inform decisions regarding a transition away from natural gas infrastructure in new construction buildings in the city. This memo will convey the state of the science of natural gas infrastructure and its public health and safety impacts on communities serviced by this energy type. A review of the science on public health and natural gas energy would be incomplete without noting the public health and safety impacts associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking), the sourcing of natural gas. Fracking has become increasingly common in residential areas and has led to an increase in cardiovascular disease in populations near fracking sites, as well as significantly degraded air quality. , Cambridge is not located near a fracking site 1 2 but the health impacts throughout the natural gas lifecycle are significant, for example in Pennsylvania, Virginia. However, it is important to remember that our gas habits contribute significantly to public health issues in states close by. In the Marcellus Shale Region, located throughout western New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, there is a considerable amount of natural gas fracking. Research has shown that the chemicals used in fracking can damage the lungs, liver, kidneys, blood, and brains of people living nearby. While these pollutants are more common in areas of heavy fracking, there is emerging research 3 suggesting that some of these chemicals, some of which are carcinogens, may find their way downstream to the distribution network of the Greater Boston Area. Below, the public health impacts of natural gas 4 energy in residential households and municipalities like Cambridge is reviewed.
2. Research Question & Methodology The goal of the following policy memo is to provide scientific evidence in support of building electrification with a focus on protecting the public health and safety of Cambridge residents, both current and future. In addition to protecting the health and well-being of residents, electrifying new construction buildings will help Cambridge stay on track to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Data to inform this policy brief was compiled from published peer-reviewed literature.