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Natural gas will become an ever more important fuel in our nation’s fuel mix to power our economy and for consumer use. The growing use of natural gas will help us reduce the amount of carbon we release into the atmosphere. But as is the case with many available fuels, it is dangerous.
The Utility Workers lost a member killed by a gas explosion just a year ago–Mark Keeley–in Philadelphia. Four other members were badly burned and injured. Local Union President Keith Holmes did a great job remembering and memorializing Mark and his injured brothers. Of course, the disaster in San Bruno, Calif during which eight of our brothers were killed cautions us to use this deadly fuel with great care.
Now we are learning that the procurement of gas by fracking can poison our ground water–a resource without which no nation nor society can survive.
So there are many reasons for us to move forward with caution.
The Utility Workers Union of America must position ourselves as the guardian of our members’ safety and the safety of the public and to be a force for protection of our most critical resource–water.
We know that our members and local unions are first responders. We turn off the electricity and-or the gas in an emergency. We save the lives of cops, firefighters and the public.
Some industries and some jobs are inherently dangerous.
But it is our job to do all we can to protect not only our members but the public and our consumers.
It has always been the role of unions and organized labor to speak up for all workers and our working class.
That is why it is so important for us to lead on safety, to fight for safe jobs and safe members and safe consumers.
Unfortunately, leading on safety and environmental protection is harder than ever. With the assault on the working class and our middle class and our labor movement, we have to fight for the future of our unions, our jobs, our labor movement and most importantly our kids and grandkids.
7 Comments
Thank you for this conscientious Diary.
I don’t know exactly what safety measures would best protect workers and consumers from fires, explosions, and suffocations, all ultimately caused by leakage of Natural Gas.
However, I have tried to come up with ways to make handling Natural Gas safer. As we hear of more and more accidents, new safer procedures and equipment seem necessary.
Here’s one improvement I thought of to make such Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) safer: Large storage tanks of gas should have a tiny pilot light – as close to microscopic as possible (to lessen economic loss and environmental impact).
This constant release of gas could relieve the pressure that might otherwise build up and cause a leak to a weak point in the system.
The pilot light would thus release CO2 (preferable to un-burned release of Methane and the other VOC components of Natural Gas). And the small loss of gas volume and profit would allow more safety for workers and consumers.
And making these improvements everywhere Natural Gas is stored or used would provide lots of jobs. Perhaps that would be a more reasonable target to which to appropriate the newly-minted money in our next bail-out, instead of a Pipeline from another country to Texas.
Welcome to FDL. I hope you’ll read my upcoming Diary post about Natural Gas.
Actually Natural Gas did not begin to be used to a great extent until after WWII. The gas that was primarily used was what was know as Town Gas or coal gas. Made by distillation of coal.
Increased use of natural gas seems inevitable, either from new domestic production or from increased imports.
Key to improving safety for both the environment and for the workers is to remove control of production and distribution from the big energy companies that have done such a poor job in the past.
Our energy future will not be cleaner and safer until we remove the Exxon’s, BP’s Chevron’s, etc. from control of the energy infrastructure.
Reads like a pr job.
I think the switch to clean-burning biogas is inevitable. It has less overhead, can provide many more jobs, is much safer for workers, and is carbon neutral.
Town Gas was made by the limited combustion of Coal, not distillation of Coal, and was primarily Carbon Monoxide.
Been done. It’s called a flare, and ever refinery has one or more, as do most plants handling LPG.