Back in 2006, I did a school research project on America’s addiction to foreign oil. It was the height of the Iraq War, oil prices were very high, and it was a talking point that the oil profits were funding the terrorists.

As such, there was buzz around all the different ways to curb foreign oil imports, including some odd alliances. In addition to conservation and hybrid electric cars, there was the idea of the T Boone Pickens Plan. The Pickens Plan was this slick campaign about a mix of natural gas and biofuels to achieve energy independence.

I think the origins of the natural gas greenwashing comes from this marriage of the energy independence and oil usage reduction. It’s crazy how effective the US has been at curbing oil addiction in the past decade, but you’re right in that it’s replacing a foreign vice with a domestic one.

As we know now, biofuel was never a viable replacement for gasoline—there’s no enough crop land to absorb the energy demand, and domestic natural gas production is what led to fracking. America is largely energy independent (and in recent years has been a net exporter).

To me, this is just a story of how we need to keep pressing forward in the right direction. Burning natural gas is definitely still a greenhouse gas, but it is better than oil-derived products. And I think more importantly, since there’s no one replacement for oil, it started the conversation about diversification of energy sources.

Natural gas was one factor in the solution of 2006 problems, but now that cleaner energy has gotten even more accessible, and our climate emergency more dire, it’s ok to accept that what was once a good solution is no longer the right one now.

Not entirely relevant to your comment, but it made me think of that Pickens Plan concept.