By Sophie Cao with contributions from Doug Siglin of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network
If you would like to read more, background information on what will be discussed, you can find it on this doc, this doc, and this doc. Many thanks to Doug Siglin for doing the interview.
When thinking about air pollution in Washington D.C., one may think of big, polluting industrial factories, people smoking or vehicles releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, there is one contributor lurking in the darkness that is often overlooked: methane. The name might ring a bell, but most do not know much about it. Most do not know how methane can harm us, and how it can poison us. Its effects are not immediate; it is a slow killer, chipping away at our immune systems and our atmosphere bit by bit until it is too late.
Methane gas does not equally attack all parts of Washington D.C. Its most consistent victims are residents of Wards 7 and 8. These two wards have the highest poverty rates in Washington D.C. and have majority Black populations. There is methane elsewhere in Washington D.C., but the more privileged residents in the other wards have access to more educational resources and can switch off methane at any time they fancy; a resident could literally change from methane gas to solar energy by making a call, making some payments, and inviting workers to place the panels on their roof. Not that they do, but most are at least aware that they can afford to spend the time and money. However, things are different in Wards 7 and 8. Many residents there are not as educated because their classes do not discuss the harms of methane and, in the face of hunger, poverty, and healthcare, environmental justice isn’t the largest concern. In addition, the process of switching from methane to a more harmless source of energy proves especially difficult for ward residents that are more concerned about getting food to cook on a stove than what powers that stove.
The residents in the Black communities of Wards 7 and 8 cannot make a switch from methane to an environmentally friendly source of energy because there are too many hurdles to go over, such as the monetary hurdle, the education hurdle, and the change hurdle. Methane is almost always present in commonly used applications such as gas fireplaces, gas water heaters, gas furnaces, and wood-burning stoves.
It would be somewhat costly for a privileged, high-income Washington D.C. resident to replace all of those utilities to make the house more energy-efficient and eco-friendly, but many are still able to do it. However, most residents in Wards 7 and 8 do not have the money to make that roughly $10,000 change. Residents cannot afford to focus on the relatively peripheral threat of their energy usage–– at least not when they have so many other things to worry about.
Another hurdle to replacing the energy source is geography. Washington D.C. has its own unique geography, which makes many sustainable types of energy extremely expensive. Hydropower and wind power do not work since a possible body of water is too far and Washington D.C. is not very windy. Geothermal energy is possible, but the costs are sky-high. Solar has prospects in Washington D.C., but only for the wealthy residents. Solar panels are pricey; installing them and changing the building’s energy source takes a chunk of change for anyone. But as I’ll touch on, it is possible to make this change. Very possible. And we have to be ready to spend to make it easy.
As far as education goes, the residents of Wards 7 and 8 are generally not aware of the harms of methane such as memory loss, depression, beginning of pneumonia and heart issues, cardiovascular and neurological problems, or on the environmental side, emitting tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, to name a few (Frantz Law Group, 2017, Unep, 2021). When people do not know about the severe problems methane causes, they will not know how to fix it. Thus, their political representatives will not bring up the issue of methane in the D.C. Councils until it is too late.
As D.C. moves forward with our ambitious renewable energy agenda, we have to prioritize low-income communities. We have to look to the future to evaluate the issues present with excluding our Ward 7 and 8 neighbors in this transition. Everyone pays a fee for gas in their homes–– which is more like an operational fee since gas companies are legally required to price their gas by how much they paid for it (i.e. a company that paid for $15 per gallon, must sell it for $15 a gallon). But there is the operational fee of maintaining the gas pipes and paying the workers. The company allocates that hefty fee to all of its customers, equally. However, as privileged and resource-filled customers make the transition from gas to solar, the only customers left are the impoverished residents of Wards 7 and 8. Because money is scarce, they can not afford the fee for maintenance and employees’ salaries. Then, residents bring it to their elected officials in hopes of having a smaller gas bill. Even if it succeeds, there is still that backlog from the earlier months which forces them into more poverty. In other words, the less wealthy customers of Wards 7 and 8 will eventually be forced into paying a hefty gas price and be sucked into the whirlpool of poverty, with sky-high debts mounting on their bank accounts, and their meager salaries, struggling to pay for everything.
In summary, the air-pollution contributor lurking in the dark can hit you hard in the end. It can plague you with many health issues, force you to pay extremely over-budget gas bills, and heat up the planet more.
With all that said, there is a beacon of hope in solving the methane crisis and making it really easy for people to transition off the toxic gas. One example is solar subsidies. Solar subsidies are financial grants given to impoverished residents of Washington D.C. when converting from harmful methane gas to solar energy. For example, if a family of four makes less than X dollars a year, they will be given a check to cover upfront costs of that $10,000 change to convert their appliance from methane. There will be a chart (much similar to the tax bracket) to determine who gets how much. The given money will differ based on each resident’s income.
The question that remains is “where does all the money come from?” The money would have to come from tax or individual donors to raise money. But, raising taxes will make people skittish, especially those who don’t deal with the problems in Wards 7 and 8 as they are not as directly affected by methane. Donations, while helpful, won’t be a steady supply of money which will make sending out the checks on time challenging. Money raised from fundraisers and other charities is not steady enough either. We must raise taxes or completely reallocate where the Mayor’s budget is spending money.
As youth, we must not let our lack of experience stop us from helping poor communities. In order to fight the climate crisis, politicians must come together with the people and the youth to make realistic changes. These hurdles shouldn’t discourage people from thinking of new ideas; they should inspire them.
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