> The alternatives aren't ready yet though, except maybe nuclear. And in the US, natural gas is still the only readily available means of heating and other buildings.
That's not really true anymore. While heat pumps have been popular in Europe and Asia for a while, they are taking off pretty quickly in the US and Canada in the past few years, even in colder climates.
I'm in the Great Lakes and I heat an old drafty Victorian with a heat pump - I'm saving money and literal tons of carbon emissions over natural gas.
Heat pumps don't work very well below 40 Fahrenheit. There are a lot of places where that makes them practically useless in the winter. It may be regional. Where I live at least, most hvac retailers only offer natural gas heaters.
That's not really true anymore. While heat pumps have been popular in Europe and Asia for a while, they are taking off pretty quickly in the US and Canada in the past few years, even in colder climates.
I'm in the Great Lakes and I heat an old drafty Victorian with a heat pump - I'm saving money and literal tons of carbon emissions over natural gas.