Readers React: The best mitigation for the Aliso Canyon leak: Don’t use natural gas

To the editor: Natural gas has been the golden child of energy production in the last decade because it “cuts greenhouse gas emissions.” But it was never meant to replace coal and oil production. It’s a fossil fuel, and using it will never cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to offset global carbon dioxide levels. (“Ignoring its promises, SoCal Gas intends to offset Porter Ranch leak on its own terms,” editorial, April 3)

Natural gas is the methadone of the oil industry, a way to transition away from fossil fuel addiction, replete with the ensuing relapses that plague any addictive cycle. Truly, industry leaders recognize the need to shift to cleaner energy choices, but it’s just too easy to fall back on old, existing technology.

Sadly, the health and welfare of the ordinary citizen isn’t motivation enough. Company leaders only respond to market forces when making investment decisions, thus it is imperative to price carbon. The shift to clean technology will only happen when the external costs of fossil fuels affect the bottom line.

Pam Brennan, Newport Beach

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To the editor: I sincerely hope that Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer’s lawsuit against Southern California Gas Co. can force the utility to do the right thing for California by having it mitigate the impacts of its massive methane leak on the state’s terms.

There were lots of big promises about mitigation made while the methane was spewing, but like BP in the Gulf of Mexico, too much is left to the offender to decide how it will mitigate now that the event is no longer front-page news. Thanks for keeping an eye on the company in the aftermath.

It’s unfortunate that only catastrophe can generate laws that actually try to protect the public. And maybe only journalists can hold corporate feet to the fire of public opinion to make sure those laws get passed.

Suvan Geer, Santa Ana

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To the editor: So SoCal Gas now wants to skirt its stated commitment to offset the impact of the worst methane leak in U.S. history, and we’re all shocked, shocked that the case will likely end up in the hands of lawyers. Is there any better sign that we need the competitive pressures of the marketplace as well as the courts to safeguard our climate?

If we’re going to seriously mitigate the huge risks of global warming, we need to put organizations’ bottom-line economic decisions to work for us and our collective future. We need Congress to put a price on carbon emissions from sources like natural gas and return the money directly to U.S. households.

This free-market plan would correct the current imbalance and incentivize the swift transition to renewables that our crisis requires.

In short, we need to create our own economic offsets to update a system that favors the status quo.

Dennis Arp, Brea

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