Natural Gas Is Now More Deadly Than Coal in 19 U.S. States
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In 2017, natural gas emissions including those from buildings were responsible for more premature deaths than emissions from coal in New York and 18 other states. (Photo: Angela Weiss, Getty Images)
Unhealthy air pollution generally brings to mind coal-fired plants spewing black soot from a smokestack. But that image may quickly be becoming outdated. A study published on Wednesday in Environmental Research Letters found that using natural gas and biomass in sources like buildings and industrial boilers actually caused more deaths in 19 states as a result of air pollution than burning coal.
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In 2017, about half of the deaths from soot exposure can be attributed to the state’s reliance on gas to heat homes and businesses, the study found. Coal is more deadly only when used to generate electricity.
Boilermaker Lloyd Hutchinson watches workers construct an exhaust tower at the natural-gas-fired electric plant in Dresden, Ohio.
Burning natural gas and wood instead of coal was supposed to be a bridge to a safer future, where heat and electricity came from sources that didnât generate as much pollution.
But new research suggests the alternative fuels are less of a bridge and more of a staircase.Â
A new Harvard University study found that, in at least 19 states plus Washington, D.C., burning gas now kills more people than coal because of exposure to a deadly type of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 that lingers in the air and lodges in lung tissue.