Editor’s note: This commentary is by Julie Macuga, 350Vermont’s extreme energy field organizer, and Mari Cordes, a grandmother, Vermont registered nurse for 30 years, former treasurer of 350Vermont and state representative from Addison County.
[“W]e are not so different,” Julie told the CEO. “We both have careers that should have been obsolete decades ago.” There was an interesting assortment of people at the table: Julie Macuga, a fossil fuel resistance organizer; Don Rendall, CEO of Vermont Gas; Mari Cordes, a nurse and state representative who introduced legislation (H.175) to ban the use of eminent domain in constructing fossil fuel infrastructure; and Tiana Smith, Vermont Gas’ culture and talent lead. The company’s two-year-old pipeline is the subject of a construction investigation with alleged violations so concerning that, pending the results, it may be shut down. We sat down with Vermont Gas to learn how this happened and what would be done with a $165 million stranded asset. We also had questions about their approach to climate change, or if they really had one.
We dove in, trying to dispel the industry’s myth that you can help stop climate change by switching to natural gas. Vermont Gas argues natural gas emits less carbon dioxide than oil, which is absolutely true, but with a huge caveat: its primary component, methane, has 84 to 87 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20 year period. A “methane footprint,” in many ways, is far worse. When calculating the social cost of the two greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide comes in at $38 per ton; methane is around $2,900, according to Dr. Drew Shindell of Cornell University.
The company, in an effort to greenwash these facts, is now offering “Renewable Natural Gas.” Their “you can be part of the movement” advertisements don’t mention that five years since the program’s launch, RNG would account for less than 1% of its annual system consumption. To those of us on the climate activist side of the table, it’s analogous to telling a cancer patient that you had cured less than 1% their cancer, but there’s nothing to worry about. Rendall responded, telling us how proud he is of this program. It was just starting out, he said, and he “hope[s] it will grow over time.” Our “cancer patient” cannot wait decades for a cure.
Prior to this meeting with Rendall, Macuga and several allies attended the shareholders’ meeting for Vermont Gas’ $7 billion parent company. Energir’s CEO made it clear she’s not willing to address their complicity in climate change nor admit the pipeline was built haphazardly, but we thought she would admit that stealing people’s land (which was stolen by colonists to begin with) is traumatic. We spoke about Claire, a recent widow dealing with grief and fear of natural gas, who was forced into eminent domain proceedings by Vermont Gas. She died not long after. Another family described the threat of eminent domain as a “gun to the ribs” and relocated. Energir insisted we speak with Rendall. “We made some very significant missteps in how we dealt with the pipeline project at the front end,” he admitted. “I view [eminent domain] as something we should avoid as best we can whenever we can.” We asked if the company supported Rep. Cordes’ bill, which would make eminent domain impossible to even consider. Rendall said he would have to think about it.
“Inspectors for Vermont Gas had complained nearly 50 times that they could not inspect potentially damaged parts of the pipeline before they were buried,” Macuga continued. “I’m wondering how something like that happens and why.” Rendall paused at length, then told us how confident he was in the integrity of the pipeline. This was not an answer, so we asked again. “I would want to go through each one of those 50 times and understand what the circumstances were, too,” he replied. Perhaps the investigation will shed light on the issue.
Cordes left Vermont Gas with a moral question. “I want to be able to tell my grandchildren and your grandchildren that we did everything that we could to stop harmful greenhouse gasses from ruining their future,” she said. “Do you feel the same way that I do?” Rendall’s expression changed and, responding carefully, he told us about his family, whom he thought about all time. However, he merely stated there were challenges to tackle, so Macuga pressed, “Do you think promoting fossil fuels is a way to do that?” He said Vermont Gas has a responsibility to its customers and there are a lot of competing interests to consider.
Swallowing feelings of grief, we understood mitigating climate change requires participation from everyone. So rather than call them out, we called Vermont Gas in, inviting them to 350VT’s Next Steps: Climate Walk, a 65-mile sacred trek along the pipeline to the Statehouse. This is an opportunity for Vermont Gas to understand why we are so often at odds as well as why we are calling for an end to fossil fuel usage and buildout. He declined, but was open to meeting again. We will to keep coming back until Vermont Gas shuts down every last piece of fossil fuel infrastructure, for Don Rendall’s grandkids and ours.
