Extinction Rebellion DC challenged Washington Gas to a joust over the future of their $5B “project pipes” in Banneker Park on the 7th of July. Washington Gas was a no-show, so contestants best described as the Green Knight vs the Gas Knight (stand-in for Washington Gas) jousted against targets for the win. Washington Gas’s stand-in just could not hit their climate targets.

The gas pipelines in the DC area owned Washington Gas have been rusting out for decades and are leaking like sieves. Washington Gas is a for-profit corporation with deep pockets, yet they have declined to pay for fixing their polluting, leaky pipes themselves. Instead they have gone to the DC Council, demanding a $5 BILLION subsidy to replace the pipes at taxpayer expense while they keep raking in profits.

If an Uber driver’s car could not pass emissions due to a failed catalytic converter(about $1,500 for a good one), the DC Council would not buy them a replacement! They would have to buy their own catalytic converter, pay for a “low emissions tuneup” at every emissions test, or scrap the car. As it is for the Uber driver, so it should be for Washington Gas. If they cannot pay for the pipes, they can shut down, and the DC Council can either take over the pipes as a not for profit public utility or spend the $5 billion on replacing everyone’s gas furnaces with heat pumps and gas stoves with induction stoves. The latter has the advantage of making ready for future renewables.

Note that heat pumps and induction stoves make far better use of energy than a straight flame does. A heat pump can move several times the heat required to make the energy to drive it (near 300% equivalent efficiency), and an induction stove heats ONLY the pan. To boil water with gas at induction stove efficiency is possible, but would require a kettle with a network of many small tubes within and a fan to pull the flame into it, much like a locomotive style tank boiler. No such kettles are on the market.