Clean Natural Gas? Nope. Don’t Put Lipstick on a Pig.

Clean Natural Gas? Nope. Don’t Put Lipstick on a Pig.

Ah, yes. "Clean" natural gas—the fossil fuel industry’s favorite bedtime story. A fairytale so good they should be selling it as a children's book. Picture it: a cute little gas well, happily bubbling away, providing "clean" energy while birds chirp in the background and local communities toast to their economic prosperity. What a dream. Too bad reality looks more like a toxic wasteland where tap water catches fire and earthquakes shake once-stable towns.

But wait, here’s the kicker: New Jersey’s all-in for fracked natural gas—so long as it doesn’t happen here. We’ve banned fracking in our state, rightfully worried about the environmental havoc it wreaks. But let’s take a wild guess… you know where the gas we use comes from? Yep, fracked natural gas from other states. You see, New Jersey won’t let the process happen under its feet—but it’s totally fine to import the byproducts of it to power our homes and businesses. Hypocrisy much? But hey, at least we’re "clean," right?

And here’s the real kicker: All the other candidates running for Governor of New Jersey seem to think "clean" natural gas is just fine—they’ll smile and tell you it’s a "transition" fuel, a bridge to a better future—just don’t look too closely at the fine print. Well, not me. I’m not falling for that nonsense. I’m the only one in this race who understands that "clean" natural gas is anything but.

Let’s break this down, shall we?

Water, Water… Oh Wait, There’s None Left

Fracking—because simply drilling a hole in the ground wasn’t destructive enough—requires millions of gallons of water per well. That’s fresh, drinkable water that could, you know, actually be used for drinking. Instead, it’s mixed with a cocktail of toxic chemicals and blasted underground to shatter rock formations, all in the name of squeezing out a few more drops of fossil fuel. And where does all that wastewater go? Deep underground injection wells. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, just the small matters of groundwater contamination and—oops—induced earthquakes.

Methane: The Greenhouse Gas They Hope You Ignore

Natural gas is mostly methane, a greenhouse gas that makes carbon dioxide look like an amateur. Methane is over 80 times more potent than CO2 in trapping heat over a 20-year period. But don’t worry, the industry swears they’ve got their leaks under control. You believe them, right? Because satellite imagery of giant methane plumes says otherwise. And the best part? These leaks make natural gas just as bad—if not worse—for the climate as coal. That’s right, the so-called "clean" alternative to coal is basically just coal with better PR.

Earthquakes in Our Sister State Next Door, Pennsylvania? Totally Normal.

If you live in Pennsylvania, you may have noticed an exciting new feature in your local environment: earthquakes! Turns out, when you inject billions of gallons of toxic wastewater into the ground, the earth fights back. Who knew? Scientists did. But since when has science stopped the fossil fuel industry from doing what it wants?

Breathe Deep—If You Can

Think of all the fresh country air you can enjoy near a fracking site! That is, if you like your air laced with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, and other delightful pollutants known to cause respiratory diseases, cancer, and headaches that feel like a jackhammer inside your skull. Local communities near fracking operations report higher asthma rates, birth defects, and overall declining health. But hey, at least someone’s making money off it, right? Just not the people who have to live with it.

The Economy? Yeah, It’s Not Helping You.

You’d think with all this destruction, at least the locals would be cashing in. Nope. While Big Oil executives count their bonuses, people living near fracking sites watch their property values plummet. Who wants to buy a house where the tap water might set itself on fire? And as for the jobs? They come and go, just like the companies that abandon these sites when the profits dry up.

So, What’s the Alternative?

It’s simple: renewables. Solar, wind, and battery storage are already cheaper than new fossil fuel infrastructure and don’t come with a side of poisoned water or unexpected earthquakes. The only thing holding us back? The same fossil fuel industry that wants you to believe their product is "clean."

So, the next time someone tries to sell you on "clean" natural gas, just remember: you can dress it up all you want, but at the end of the day, it’s still a dirty, polluting, climate-wrecking disaster. And no, putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t change that fact.

And no, New Jersey, importing fracked gas while pretending to be a climate champion isn’t fooling anyone either.

Let’s make the change. Real change.

Stephen Zielinski for Governor