People of color, those with low-incomes, and renters are more exposed to the dangers of gas leaks than white, richer people, an analysis published earlier this year in Energy Policy found. Community advocates noticed white suburbanites in Massachusetts got their leak-prone gas pipes replaced by utility companies more quickly than people of color in urban areas, and raised the issue with Marcos Luna, a geography professor at Salem State University. “Exposure and wait times are overwhelmingly disparate along the lines of race and income,” Luna told E&E News.
Even after gas makes it to the stove, the pollution caused by burning “natural gas,” which is primarily methane, is harmful to human health. A report by the Institute for Policy Integrity calls on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to — at minimum — require gas stoves be sold with carbon monoxide poisoning warning labels similar to those on portable generators. (Disparate exposure: E&E News; Warning labels: E&E $)