Extinction Rebellion Calls Out Washington Gas Sponsorships for What They Are: Greenwashed Lies
Washington Gas’ sponsorships of “Bloomaroo” and the “Eco-Challenge” are smoke and mirrors as rebels continue to expose the truth about Washington Gas
Washington, DC – This week, Washington Gas is sponsoring multiple community events, the Wharf’s Bloomaroo festival and WUSA9’s Eco-Challenge, in an attempt to cozy up to the public as rebels continue to expose WGL’s massive greenwashing scheme.
Reilly Polka, Press Spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion DC, released the following statement:
“Washington Gas’ sponsorship of local community events is all smoke and mirrors. They are not sponsoring the events because they care about the community, as they claim; they are sponsoring the events to divert attention away from the very real havoc they are wreaking on our health, our community, and our future.”
“Their sponsorships are totally ironic. The Bloomaroo festival is a chance to celebrate the beauty and tradition of the cherry blossom blooms; yet Washington Gas is complicit in causing earlier and earlier blooms and rising levels in the Tidal Basin, threatening the cherry blossoms we know and love. The Eco-Challenge is an attempt to brainwash middle schoolers into associating Washington Gas as a ‘good’ and ‘green’ entity while they continue to profit off the destruction of those same students’ futures–and the partnership with the Smithsonian shows just how far money can go.”
“It’s long past time that the local media and our elected officials tell the truth about Washington Gas and hold them accountable for the devastating impacts their monopoly on methane is causing in the District. It’s time to stop PROJECTpipes and build the truly clean, healthy, and just future we all deserve.”
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XRDC is calling out Washington Gas’ lies and greenwashing.
Note to Editors:
For more information about Washington Gas' toxic pipeline project and XRDC's campaign to stop it visit https://www.xrdc.org/gas
Methane is the gas piped into your home to cook your food and heat your house. DC has some of the oldest underground methane gas pipes in the country, and these pipes are leaking large amounts of methane throughout the city. There are more than 3,000 leaks in the District – and over 70% of the leaks in 2021 were at hazardous levels, posing a severe and immediate threat to the city’s residents.
Methane gas kills. It severely harms the health of DC’s residents, especially the most vulnerable — children, the elderly, and people experiencing homelessness. When you light your stove, it sends nitrogen dioxide into your home. That can cause cardiovascular problems, respiratory disease, and premature death.
A gas stove also releases chemicals that can cause cancer and birth defects.
A lit gas stove also produces a poisonous cocktail of other chemicals and gasses like formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide. Children in homes with gas stoves are 42% more likely to have asthma than children whose families use electric stoves, a similar rate to children living with cigarette smokers. Stoves continue to leak methane into your home even when they’re turned off.
Washington Gas will tell you methane gas is “renewable,” “clean,” “natural,” “responsible,” and “green.” In fact, greenhouse gas emissions from the use of methane gas now exceed coal emissions in the United States — and methane heats the planet up to 80 times faster than carbon dioxide.
Methane concentrations in the atmosphere are so high that they’re now responsible for 30-50% of the global rise in temperatures. Leaking gas pipes, like those in DC, are a major source of US methane emissions. The amount of methane the fossil fuel industry releases is far worse than regulators think. And gas stoves in the United States release the same amount of greenhouse gas as 500,000 cars.
DC has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2045. Washington Gas’ plans make this goal impossible to achieve. The Department of Energy and Environment calls Washington Gas’ business plan “technically deficient with significant errors.”
This is part of a longer coordinated PR campaign from Washington Gas. They have sponsored Petworth’s street festival, a community food drive for Thanksgiving, and is an official media partner with WUSA9, which provides an easy outlet for their greenwashed PR. All of this is smoke and mirrors so Washington Gas can go through with their deadly Project Pipes.
About Extinction Rebellion
Time has almost entirely run out to address the climate & ecological crisis, including the sixth mass extinction, global pollution, and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices if rapid action is not taken.
Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by their Government.
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