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Climate Action Campaign: Unpacking UCI’s Gas Experiment Proposal
From Climate Action Campaign:
UC Irvine and the gas industry are trying to bring a dangerous experiment to the Anteater Recreation Center, harming our health, safety, climate goals, and energy affordability in California.
This Thursday, Nov. 21 at 3pm, please join Climate Action Campaign and a panel of scientists on Zoom for an objective discussion of the proposal and its impacts. Click here to add to calendar.Â
Panelists will include:
- Steve Allison, UCI Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Earth System Science
- Cathy Gere, UCSD Professor of History of Science
- Luette Forrest, UCI Retired Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Key facts on the proposal:
- Would mix 80-95% methane gas with 5-20% fossil-fuel based hydrogen for burning in boilers, water heaters, and cooking equipment at the ARC.
- The American Medical Association has adopted a resolution against hydrogen blending in home appliances due to associated health risks.
- SoCalGas has asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to allow them to charge ratepayers $24.4 million for the project. SoCalGas has paid UC Irvine $7 million in the last ten years, including to the Advanced Power & Energy Program, which supports the project.*
- A coalition of environmental groups and consumer advocates—Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, Utility Consumers’ Action Network and Climate Action Campaign—filed a motion with the CPUC in July to dismiss the UCI proposal along with several other gas/hydrogen blending proposals.
- An earlier proposal to install gas/hydrogen blending in Mesa Court student housing was rejected after students and community members protested, prompting UCI administration to back away from the project.
- Burning hydrogen is known to produce indoor and outdoor air pollution by emitting nitrogen oxides—a key ingredient in smog—potentially exacerbating respiratory and heart problems in peoples’ own homes. Additionally, blending hydrogen into existing pipelines is known to make pipes brittle and vulnerable to cracking, an alarming risk considering hydrogen’s flammability.
Ayn Craciun
Director of Policy, Orange County
949-400-9682
- This event has passed.