The Choice is Yours

What's a wise energy source? One that's abundant, efficient, easy to conserve and has less environmental impact. Natural gas offers all these desirable features.

Conserving energy is simple, and starts right where you live. By choosing high-efficiency natural gas appliances instead of electric ones, you automatically conserve energy in your home and in your community. And you reduce your "carbon footprint" (a term that describes how much fossil fuel you use).

That's because today, in Oregon and other areas of the Northwest, some utilities burn sulfurous coal to make electricity in almost the same volume as they use dam-based, water-powered turbines to make electricity. Coal is less than 30 percent efficient, meaning that more than 70 percent of the energy created by burning coal is wasted.

Other utilities even burn natural gas to make your electricity, and in the process waste about 50 percent of the energy created.

These methods for generating electricity emit carbon-based greenhouse gases at much higher levels that, when combined with other sources, accelerate global warming.

By contrast, natural gas is 90 percent efficient. And you can make a big difference through "direct use." That means taking advantage of the power of natural gas directly by using high-efficiency natural gas appliances to heat your home, cook your meals, heat your water or dry your clothes. Direct use lets each of us rely a lot less on coal-powered energy. And lets us use energy in the least polluting way possible.

That's exciting. And it's a smart way to conserve an important resource and help preserve our natural environment.