Listener Mail: Is Renewable Natural Gas a Scam?

Listener Mail: Is Renewable Natural Gas a Scam?

Author: Gimlet April 29, 2021 Duration: 42:26
It’s listener mail time! This week, we’re digging into a mysterious email one listener received from their utility about renewable natural gas. Can natural gas actually be renewable, or is this just a marketing scheme? We also take a look at Venn diagrams sent by listeners after our episode, "Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?" to see what kind of climate actions you’ve got planned! Calls to Action Check to see if your city has a building electrification effort you can support – the Building Electrification Institute has a list of some here. Check out Environment America’s resources for electrifying your college campus. Learn More Read the World Resources Institute’s report and blog post on renewable natural gas. Read Earthjustice and the Sierra Club’s report on renewable natural gas. Read the LA Times’ editorial on SoCalGas and Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions. Read this article about gas industry trade groups paying Instagram influencers to post about how much they looooove gas stoves. If you want to see what kinds of policies and marketing campaigns your utility may be supporting, you can see if they’re a member of the American Gas Association or American Public Gas Association. Check out our Calls to Action archive for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram. This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Anna Ladd The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis and Rachel Waldholz. Our intern is Ayo Oti. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger. Special thanks to our guests this week, Tom Cyrs and Matt Vespa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Looking for a way to engage with the climate crisis that goes beyond the headlines of doom? How to Save a Planet is that conversation. Hosted by journalist Alex Blumberg and marine biologist and policy expert Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, this Gimlet podcast digs into the practical, human, and often surprising realities of addressing our planet's greatest challenge. The show moves past abstract fears to explore tangible solutions, asking not just what needs to be done but how we can actually get it done. Each episode is a journey, scouring the earth for ideas and talking to the people on the front lines-from scientists and activists to policymakers and innovators-who are crafting real-world answers. The tone is grounded yet hopeful, blending serious investigation with relatable curiosity and the occasional dumb joke. Listening to this podcast means joining a search for agency and understanding, breaking down a monumental problem into stories about our collective power, systemic change, and the unexpected paths forward. It’s for anyone who feels the weight of the issue and wants to be part of a smarter, more constructive dialogue about our future.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

How to Save a Planet
Podcast Episodes
Is Your Carbon Footprint BS? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:50
We're tackling a sibling debate: Do your individual actions matter when it comes to climate change? Or is it all about big, systemic change? In this episode, we break down both sides of the argument. We lay out the actio…
Like The Monarch, Human Migrations During Climate Change [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:01
Human migration is nothing new, but the scale at which people will need to relocate due to climate change will be different than ever before. A World Bank report estimates that over the next thirty years, 143 million peo…
Fighting Fire with Fire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:30
From California’s crimson skies to smoke so thick along Colorado’s front range that sent people indoors for days, wildfires in the US have becomes more and more extreme. On today’s episode, we ask, how did the wildfires…
Soil: The Dirty Climate Solution [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:29
On this week's episode, we meet two farmers who, at first glance, seem very different. One is a first-generation farmer in upstate New York raising fruits and vegetables for the local community. The other is a third gene…
Drs. Jane Goodall & Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Talk About Hope [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:38
If you’re curious to know how Drs. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Drs. Jane Goodall first fell in love with the natural world, both on land and underwater, this week’s episode is for you. Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of t…
Recycling! Is it BS? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:53
The recycling bin — many of us have learned to view this humble container as an environmental superhero. It is, after all, the critical first step in turning our trash into… well, not treasure, but at least more stuff. O…
An Origin Story of the Blue New Deal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:06
This week, the inside scoop on how a climate policy gets made. In 2019, when the Green New Deal resolution was unveiled, How to Save a Planet co-host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson noticed something big (and blue) was missi…
Presenting: Gastropod [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:40
Over the past century, we've transformed the arid lands of the American west into year-round, well-irrigated agricultural powerhouses. Today, fruits, nuts, and nearly all of our leafy greens are grown in the desert, usin…
How Amazon Workers Got Serious About Climate (and How You Can, too) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:05
A common piece of career advice is to bring your whole self to work. But what if your whole self includes a deep concern for the climate? Can you bring that part of yourself to work, even if it makes your workplace uncom…
Encore: Are Electric Cars Really Better for the Climate? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:36
We love listener mail! You've sent us some amazing notes. Some made us laugh, some made us cry, and some made us say – hey, that’s a great question! We should answer it. So this week, we dig into one of your questions, a…