Oil Giants Back Switch to Natural Gas as Study Tallies Pollution Deaths

International oil and gas industry groups told Bloomberg Environment they would encourage greater use of natural gas and less reliance on coal after a report linked fossil fuels with millions of premature deaths.

Their comments followed publication this week of a study that found air pollution created by the most greenhouse gas-intensive fossil fuels could kill 153 million people prematurely by 2100.

Cutting carbon dioxide, the main driver of climate change, has a side benefit, the study found: Poor air quality caused by burning fossil fuels of all kinds will improve and fewer people will die.

“When you burn fossil ...