The fossil fuel industry is trying to keep buildings hooked on gas. Here’s how. todayheadline

Fossil fuel industries in the United States, European Union, and Australia are leading parallel campaigns to block policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. That’s according to a new report by the London-based think tank InfluenceMap, which found that in all three regions, laws that restrict natural gas use in buildings have faced significant pushback from oil and gas companies and utilities. 

Those efforts have largely succeeded in preventing and weakening new laws, resulting in delayed climate action on a global scale. Drawing from an InfluenceMap database that tracks corporate engagement on climate policies, researchers found that fossil fuel companies and their trade associations have used similar lobbying tactics across countries, including setting up ad campaigns and front groups, appealing directly to legislators, and taking legal action. They’ve also developed tailored narratives for each region to mislead consumers and promote gas use, according to the report. 

Taken together, the campaigns have resulted “in policy wins for the fossil fuel industry,” said report co-author Emilia Piziak. “All these narratives that they’re using to prolong the role of fossil gas are counter to leading climate science and public health studies.” (“Fossil gas” is another term for natural gas, which is composed primarily of the greenhouse gas methane.)

Between construction, electricity, and heating, buildings account for 21 percent of carbon emissions globally, and about a quarter of those emissions come from burning fossil fuels on site. Replacing fossil fuel-powered heating systems and appliances with heat pumps and other electric alternatives — a strategy known as electrification — is one of the most effective ways to cut emissions and improve air quality. The report focused on the EU, Australia, and U.S. because all three are home to recently introduced electrification policies that have also faced intense industry opposition.

In the U.S., local gas bans and electrification ordinances sprung up in dozens of cities after Berkeley, California, introduced a first-in-the-nation ban on burning gas in new buildings in 2019. Fossil fuel companies and utilities have filed lawsuits and amicus briefs, published statements, and run ad campaigns to oppose these bans. Utilities have also funded community groups that appear to be grassroots, a strategy known as astroturfing, to undermine electrification policies in places like Colorado and Eugene, Oregon. 

According to the report, trade groups like the American Gas Association, the National Propane Gas Association, and Consumer Energy Alliance have also pushed for new state-level laws to prevent local governments from introducing gas bans. Such preemption laws have now passed in 26 states. Local policies have also ground to a halt: Last year, the city of Berkeley agreed to stop enforcing its gas ban following its defeat in a prolonged court battle launched by the California restaurant industry — a loss that prompted several communities to pull back similar bans.

The majority of U.S. lobbying efforts have centered around the narrative that “consumer choice must be protected,” the report found. Itai Vardi, a researcher at the utility watchdog Energy and Policy Institute who was not involved with the report, said this messaging is prevalent throughout the U.S. and “nothing less than misleading propaganda.”

“Industry is trying to harness dominant American cultural values such as ‘freedom,’ ‘choice,’ and ‘individualism’ to serve its own narrow economic interests of keeping gas in the mix,” Vardi told Grist. “Yet the main proponents of this line, gas utilities and their trade associations and front groups, are in fact monopoly entities that by definition have great control over their customers’ energy options.” 

Bryson Hull, a spokesperson for Consumer Energy Alliance, told Grist that the group is “proud of its advocacy work in multiple states to ensure natural gas remains an affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy option for Americans.” The American Gas Association and the National Propane Gas Association did not respond to Grist’s requests for comment in time for publication.

Industry groups in the EU and Australia are using strikingly similar tactics and arguments. In the EU, oil and gas companies successfully lobbied to add incentives for hybrid heating systems that use fossil fuels to a recent law intended to boost energy efficiency in buildings. The report found that industry arguments have most often centered around the idea that policy should be “technology neutral,” despite findings by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, the United Nations’ top scientific body on climate change, that renewables and “technology-specific” policies have lowered emissions worldwide. 

In the state of Victoria in Australia, companies ran ads to oppose a recent gas ban in new buildings, arguing that electrification would worsen affordability and energy security. This message contradicts the UN panel’s finding that deploying clean power makes energy cheaper and more reliable, researchers wrote. In September, the state of Victoria announced that stoves would be exempt from plans to phase out gas in existing homes.

The research provides further proof that “fossil fuel and utility industries employ highly coordinated and planned attacks against one of the most important climate and public health measures: getting buildings off of fossil fuels,” said Vardi. He added that in the U.S., utilities often charge customers for such lobbying costs, including for membership dues to trade associations.

A small number of energy companies, however, have taken science-aligned positions and supported electrification. In the U.S., for example, the trade group Advanced Energy United and the HVAC company Trane Technologies have supported federal climate and building efficiency policies. Companies should reevaluate not only their individual stances but also their membership to trade associations that are blocking building electrification, report co-author Vivek Parekh said. The utility Eversource, for instance, left the American Gas Association in 2023 to “redirect costs to more targeted associations and memberships with a focus on decarbonization.” 

For now, though, “These voices are being overwhelmed by the fossil fuel industry,” said Parekh. “The overwhelming opportunity here is for those voices to strengthen their advocacy for building electrification and the phaseout of gas.”