As regulated monopolies, US utilities are meant to act in the public interest (perhaps … a livable planet?). These utilities have shareholders-either private investors or the public-and they have ratepayers: captive customers who can’t easily get their gas somewhere else. According to the AGA, 96 percent of American gas customers get their gas from AGA member utilities. To understand how, let’s take a step back. What many Americans may not know is that a portion of ratepayer fees are often directed toward funding energy trade groups-which means that if you heat your home or cook with gas, your bills may be funding efforts to keep gas demand high. But while consumers can choose not to support brands they don’t agree with, it is harder to stop paying your gas bills. Trade groups, of course, influence public opinion and legislation in virtually every industry, so on its face there’s nothing surprising about the AGA’s efforts. The IEA’s roadmap to get there assumes a move away from household gas, which is foundational to gas utilities’ business model-the very business model gas trade groups like the AGA are tasked with protecting. They didn’t agree on all the particulars, but to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the International Energy Agency, demand for natural gas needs to fall by more than half by 2050. Just last week, delegates at the UN’s COP28 conference finally agreed to transition away from fossil fuels like gas by 2050. This whole culture-war mess has done a fairly good job of distorting a pretty straightforward truth: Gas is not the best option for our health, and it’s especially not the best option for the planet. (Culminating in, among other things, the House passing the “ Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act.”) 96 percent of American gas customers get their gas from AGA member utilities. Shortly after, a commissioner from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said in an interview that “products that can’t be made safe can be banned.” The commission chair later clarified that the commission was not seeking a ban on gas stoves, but the mere specter of one was enough to spark plenty of “don’t-touch-my-kitchen” outrage-and the issue quickly devolved into a political maelstrom. In case you need a refresher: Last December, a study funded by the Rocky Mountain Institute and the National Cancer Institute estimated that gas stoves are a risk factor for childhood asthma about on par with exposure to secondhand smoke. That marketing has gained more relevance over the past year, as the debate over gas stoves has picked up steam. But over the past 100 years, the AGA has also-in coordination with its members and other industry trade groups-dedicated significant resources to marketing ideas like Gas is better for cooking Gas stoves don’t significantly impact health and Natural gas is an important tool for climate progress. Coordinating safety efforts across American utilities, the group notes, is one of its key priorities. Today, most investor-owned gas utilities in the U.S., along with many publicly owned ones, are members of the AGA, and the trade group has worked to make gas poisonings much more rare. Better information, the case went, would help counter “undeserved criticism.” Launched by gas utilities and appliance makers, the industrywide trade group quickly proposed an advertising arm. In the midst of these battles, in June 1918, the American Gas Association was born. Consumers were also upset over rate increases, inequitable access, and inconsistent delivery they filed more than a thousand complaints about gas quality and pressure. That year, household gas leaks had reportedly killed more than 300 New Yorkers-due to their own carelessness, the gas companies argued. The winter between 19 was a trying one for the gas industry.
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