Vancouver has one last chance to get the gas question right

Next week, Vancouver city council will have a final chance to redeem its absurd reversal of a ban on natural gas heating in new buildings that has been in place since 2020.

If they don’t backtrack, and gas heating is brought back to Vancouver — once self-described as “Canada’s Greenest City” — it would be an embarrassing step backward and a blow to the climate. We can only hope at least one more councillor with the ruling party on Vancouver’s right-leaning council breaks with Mayor Ken Sim to tip the vote and side with reason.

Natural gas, contrary to what its name implies, is a polluting fossil fuel that, when burned, releases toxic gases and carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming and the problems associated with it: sea level rise, fire, floods and severe weather events.

 Oh, the gas companies love to tell you that methane burns cleaner than oil. Technically, that’s true: natural gas emits less CO2 than coal and oil. But what they try not to talk about is the methane problem. 

Natural gas is made up primarily of methane, a greenhouse gas 82.5 times more potent than CO2 during the first couple of decades after its release. It has an insidious way of leaking when natural gas is produced, transported and delivered. 

There are ways to mitigate some of the seepage and the federal government has taken steps to improve Canada’s performance. But so far, methane is still a major problem worldwide. Results from international methane monitoring shows that most often, even when large leaks are reported, action is seldom taken to stop them. 

There is no denying the emissions problems associated with natural gas. And when more versatile, cleaner heating solutions already exist, continuing to burn fossil fuels for heat makes no sense. 

Heat pumps are powered by electricity, which in B.C. is almost entirely renewable hydroelectricity. They are more efficient than gas furnaces and deliver both heating and air conditioning. As our summers heat up, the demand for cooling systems is rising. It only makes sense that savvy homeowners or renters will favour homes with heat pumps, rather than paying costs associated with two separate systems.

The most forward-thinking places in the world recognize this and are turning off the gas taps. New York became the first U.S. state to ban gas stoves and heating in most new buildings in 2023 and California has a plan to follow suit by 2030. 

Here at home, Quebec recently decided to phase out fossil-based natural gas heating in all homes by 2040. And other B.C. municipalities including Victoria, Nanaimo and Saanich have either banned gas heating in new homes or are committed to doing so soon.

Why is Vancouver bucking the trend? It’s hard to say for sure. But I wish I could be a fly on the wall to hear what kind of spin and pressure the lobbyists who shill for gas have unleashed on city councillors.

 FortisBC, the province’s natural gas supplier, has been fighting for years to stop Vancouver’s efforts to ditch gas. It counters gas pollution arguments by claiming they are switching to “renewable” gas, or biomethane captured from landfills, food waste and manure pits. In truth, most of B.C.’s gas pumped into furnaces is still conventional gas — Fortis justifies using the renewable moniker by investing in biomethane projects in Ontario and the U.S. 

To boost the company’s claims, Fortis runs glitzy ads and information campaigns touting gas as the most affordable and sustainable heating supply. Climate activists are suing to shut down the  ads as disinformation, but there are other third party groups popping up to sing the same tune.

I wish we knew if Fortis is funding industry front groups such as Voice of Energy and the BC Coalition for Affordable and Dependable Energy. Seth Klein, a columnist with Canada’s National Observer, asked the question and never got a reply. We do know that the gas ban reversal surprise motion was tabled by Brian Montague after a meeting with a Fortis lobbyist — and that Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s senior advisor is a director of two gas companies. Suffice to say, Big Gas is not going to give up easily. 

Still, you know the end is near when even businesses are complaining about Vancouver city council’s flip flop. If there’s one thing business hates, it’s the uncertainty and planning challenges that occur when rules change midstream.

Sim and his councillors, not surprisingly, did not embrace calls by  climate and environmental activists urging to keep the ban in place. But the business complaints may be enough to influence the vote.

We’ll know which way it goes next week; I’m hearing rumours that at least one additional brave councillor may switch sides and vote against the mayor. I hope they are right. But even if this vote goes the wrong way, consumer demand is already forcing the shift. Just like cassette tapes  were displaced by streaming, the superior performance of heat pumps will soon spell the end of the natural gas furnace.