The national news was recently all aflutter about a comment made by someone at the Consumer Product Safety Board regarding the increasing evidence that cooking with methane (aka "natural") gas is a health hazard. While gas stoves appear to burn clean, chemists have long known that combustion of methane creates invisible by-products including nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde. Studies now show that these gases increase the probability of childhood asthma and lung problems among elders.

There's a mini-war about gas stoves going on, as those of us who are working to curb climate disruption advocate for phasing them out. The comedian Rollie Williams (who's also an environmental studies major) has a funny YouTube video showing how gas companies have used "cooking with gas" to camouflage their true money-makers: big gas-burning furnaces. As environmental concerns are growing, more people know that when methane is burned, it creates carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas. Moreover, methane is even worse when it's not burned, since it has 80 times the warming impact of CO2 within Earth's atmosphere.

Even if it didn't disrupt Earth's climate, methane gas is a safety hazard. We all know the first thing to do after an earthquake is to shut off the gas line outside to reduce potential for a fire. Gas companies know how much gas they are pumping from the ground — and they know how much they are billing us for — and utilities reports have documented that these numbers often don't match. Where does the missing gas go? Gas coming from the well-head is pressurized, so it readily appears when we turn the knob on a stove. This pressurized gas seeps through little cracks in the pipes that run under all our streets, seeking an escape. PG&E's poorly maintained gas lines led to the San Bruno explosion in 2010 where eight people were killed and 37 homes blew up in their neighborhood.

So, for safety, health and environmental reasons, gas-fueled buildings need to join the horse-and-buggy on history's scrap heap. But there are obstacles for homeowners in making this switch: It takes time to interview contractors, decide which equipment to buy, determine if the house needs more electrical capacity — and how to pay for it.

While some may feel that Palo Alto's reputation as an environmental leader has dimmed somewhat in the past few years, the city is now again in the forefront of cities moving into the electrification era. With our electricity portfolio 100% carbon neutral since 2013 and the ban on gas in new construction adopted in 2020, Palo Alto is now addressing the water-heater issue by offering an exciting, no hassle way to switch your water heater from gas to electric.

Based on ideas proposed by Carbon Free Palo Alto, City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) is offering a "direct install" program through which an experienced company installs a standard electric heat pump system for $2,700. (Costs can vary, depending on tank size and where the system is located.) CPAU also offers "on-bill financing" so that the customer can choose to pay half the cost with a $20/month payment over five years on the regular utility bill. For more on the CPAU program, see cityofpaloalto.org/switchyourwaterheater.

Because this program makes switching so easy, our 350SV Palo Alto Climate Team nonprofit is recruiting volunteers for a citywide canvass, 1 to 4 p.m. on Feb. 11 and 12. Training will be provided online the week of Feb. 6, and volunteers will receive a list of homeowners with whom to talk. Flyers will be left on the porch if no one is home. Volunteers can go out individually or with a partner, and student participants can earn community service hours. To volunteer, sign up at bit.ly/water-heater-canvass.

Talking with others about curbing climate change is a great way to help solve this important global challenge. As climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe said in her 2018 TED talk, "The most important thing you can do about climate change is talk about it." Our 350 group has done a couple dozen "beta-test" conversations with our neighbors, and we've found that people are friendly and pleased to learn about the city program. We're volunteers, so people don't expect us to be experts, and we'll give out info from CPAU for them to read.

Of course, we may also get some challenging questions, especially in light of power outages caused by the recent storms. Some are rightly concerned about switching to all electric appliances if the power system is unreliable. Others may ask, "Is there enough electricity available on cloudy days?" or "Can the grid handle such increases in electric use?" or "Isn't switching to electricity too expensive?"

There are answers to all these questions. Electrical technology is becoming "smarter" and more efficient every day. Moreover, the cost of batteries is declining, while technology (already found in the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian trucks) will soon be widely available to keep a household humming when there's an extended power outage. Electricity supplies from solar and wind are growing every year, and they now cost the same or less than that produced by burning fossil fuels — and by the time millions of homes are converted to electricity, our grid will be modernized to handle the increased load. And for customers, studies show that, over time, the total cost of switching to electricity is cheaper than replacing gas equipment.

Some people choose not to accept these responses, yet the key question is: "What is the alternative?" If folks continue to deny that using fossil fuels causes climate change, are they willing to accept more wildfires, more storms, sea level rise, droughts ... and famine? The truth about switching to electricity is that we have to do it. The longer we wait to make changes, the more it will cost us, and the more people will suffer.

Earth is in serious trouble — and so we hope you'll join us for an afternoon of talking with neighbors about the city's electric water heater offer.