Oregon and Washington boast aggressive climate plans that aim to decarbonize the Northwest economy over the next 30 years. Yet these plans face a major roadblock in the form of the privately-owned utilities that supply gas to customers across the region. These utilities have not gotten the memo on decarbonization: they are not planning to reduce their sales of natural gas, but to increase gas consumption over the coming decades. That’s a big problem; decarbonization requires states to move beyond gas.

There is mathematically no way the states can reach their climate targets without sharply curtailing gas. Oregon’s climate laws aim for an 80 percent reduction in carbon by 2050, yet more than one-third of the state’s energy-related emissions come from gas. Meanwhile, Washington is legally obligated to reduce emissions 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, but one-quarter of the Evergreen State’s energy-related carbon pollution comes from gas. Simply put, there is no room for compromise.

Read more here.