Last fall, a huge methane leak from a natural gas well uprooted thousands of California residents and took months to fix. As a result, thousands of tons of methane were released into the atmosphere. The main component of natural gas is methane, which is 25 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, which makes it much worse for the environment.

Another issue of concern is the methane leaks coming from aging gas pipelines. Have you ever smelled gas in your own neighborhood?

While natural gas seems to be going backward, heating oil keeps moving forward, with lower sulfur content, renewable biofuel blends, and high-tech oil boilers and furnaces. Today, heating oil is a much more environmentally friendly option than natural gas.