My Turn: A three-time climate refugee weans off fossil fuels

By Anne Sobol

Last week, Net Zero installed my new heat pump water heater, the next to last step in my getting off natural gas (clothes dryer remains). A crew of young men cycled in and out of my house most of the day. In the middle of the afternoon, my doorbell rang and three men from National Grid stood outside my front door. They said they had heard from the crew replacing the gas main on Beaver Pond Road that I did not want to have the line from the main to my house replaced. I said yes, I did not. They began arguing with me and telling me that would cut me off from gas. The young men from Net Zero moved back and forth from the house to their trucks either getting tools they needed or wanting to hear what was going on.

The National Grid guys explained that if I did not have the line to my house replaced now and later wanted gas, I would have to pay for extending the line, whereas now it would be without charge. I explained that I understand all NG payers are paying in their monthly bills for National Grid’s repair work whether or not the repairs are occurring in their neighborhoods, and that in any case why would I want to change my mind? They said it’s expensive to pay for electricity. I said yes, but I’ve invested in solar panels and a battery — expensive upfront money but now my electric bills are way down.

They said, “What if you want to sell your house and potential buyers want natural gas? They’ll have to pay to have the line from the street changed and this fact will reduce what you can sell your house for.” I asked, “Why would they want natural gas?” They hemmed and hawed and finally one of them said they might want to put in a swimming pool and have a heater. I said I believe fossil fuels are driving climate change and what kind of earth do they want to leave their children and grandchildren? I thanked them for coming by and they left.

I grew up in Lincoln in the fifties (LPS 1-8). For many years, my husband and I lived on a bayou across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans until we were driven into the city by repeated storms and floods. Our house on the bayou wasn’t protected by levees. Later, our raised house in New Orleans was only damaged some in Hurricane Katrina, but the city suffered terribly. After Katrina there were repeated storms, power outages, and loss of water. My husband’s health declined and we moved to Sonoma County, California to be close to his daughter. People said, “What about the earthquakes?” but no one mentioned the fires. In California, we lived near areas that were burned to the ground and we were mandatorily evacuated one time. When my husband died, I tired of getting ready to evacuate and got the idea I’d move back to Lincoln. Climate refugee three times — from the bayou, from New Orleans, and from California. I feel I must do everything I can to reduce my contribution to climate change.

In my work to get my home off fossil fuels, I’ve gotten good advice from CFREE, a subcommittee of the town’s Green Energy Committee. CFREE provides coaching to Lincoln residents who want to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. To see if CFREE can help you, contact lincolngreencoach@gmail.com.

Anne Sobol lives on Beaver Pond Road.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.