Fossil Gas Facts

Our Climate Can’t Afford More Fossil Gas

Fossil gas emits methane – a powerful form of climate pollution that heats our planet 86x faster over 20 years than carbon dioxide released from coal burning power plants.
The climate impact of methane produced by the oil and gas industry in the U.S. is equal to 16% of ALL human made carbon emissions around the world annually.
Last year – Minnesota’s existing fossil gas plants emitted the same amount of climate pollution as 782,608 cars over the course of a year. If Minnesota utilities are successful in building any new gas plants – that number will increase dramatically.

Black, American Indian, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander households are more than twice as likely than White households to forgo food or medicine to pay energy costs. Black and Hispanic children are 2.5 times and 1.5 times more likely to live in energy insecure homes.
People exposed to air pollution from fossil gas extraction sites are more likely to experience asthma symptoms, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and cancer. 17.6 million people live within 1 mile of a fossil gas extraction site – including a disproportionate number of communities of color and residents living in poverty.

Energy from sources like wind and solar power, resources we produce right here in our own state, are already cheaper than producing energy from new fossil gas plants. Renewable energy is expected to be cheaper than energy from 90% of existing fossil gas plants by 2035.
If our utilities build clean energy infrastructure instead of their proposed fossil gas plants, consumers in Minnesota and Wisconsin are expected to save approximately $600 million over the next 30 years.

Last year, Minnesota experienced three fossil gas pipeline explosions: one in Pequot Lakes that hospitalized a restaurant owner with severe burns, one in Paynesville that leveled a home, and one in St. Paul that destroyed a house and badly burned an elderly resident. Since 2005, fossil gas pipelines in Minnesota have led to: 77 incident reports, 9 injuries, 2 deaths, and $59 million in damages.
43% of adults & 35% of children with asthma in Minnesota report gas cooking as an asthma trigger. 62% of Americans are regularly exposed to dangerous levels of pollutants from gas stoves
Nationally, fossil gas pipeline accidents resulted in 860 injuries, 195 fatalities, and more than $4.2 billion in property damage over the past 15 years.