Drop the ‘Natural’ in Natural Gas, Activists Urge US Officials

Since almost two centuries ago — not long after it was identified bubbling up in a creek in western New York — the flammable below-ground substance composed of methane and other hydrocarbons has been called “natural gas” in the US.

Now, some environmental activists say it’s time to ditch that label.

“There’s nothing natural about fracking; there’s nothing natural about thousands of miles of pipelines and there’s nothing natural about the indoor air pollution that is associated with gas,” said Caleb Heeringa, campaign director of the environmental advocacy group Gas Leaks.

The Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) Honor Rancho underground natural gas storage facility in Santa Clarita, California.

Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg

Heeringa and other environmentalists are pushing federal regulators to set a policy discouraging companies from ...