In the past, those who cared most generally had to pay more.

If you wanted to support local businesses, buy organic food, or get some solar panels in an effort to be a better human, you were likely faced with an environmental (or moral) premium in comparison to the other options.

It's still generally the case when it comes to buying food and many other products, but when it comes to energy, this has now been reversed.

Those who care more actually end up paying less because upgrading your fossil fuel machines to electric equivalents and producing your own energy to run them will save you thouands every year and slash your household's emissions.

This is why, as we like to say at Rewiring Aotearoa, gas in homes is dumb: it's more expensive than going electric, as the graphs from our electric homes report show, but you also need to pay more to give your kids asthma and pollute your community's air.

The gas industry has attempted to play on our desire to choose lower-impact options by talking up the promise of so-called renewable gas and Clarus volunatrily removed its ad (which featured the classic smiling family over the hob cooking pancakes).

It sounds good in theory, but it's actually even dumber than fossil gas, mostly because it's even more expensive and there's also nowhere near enough of it to match demand.

As the story said: "A Gas Transition Plan issues paper written by energy officials said biomethane blending could provide a low-emissions option and boost supply for consumers who were willing to pay a premium in order to continue using pipeline gas, but concluded it was unlikely to win out in the long-term over the cheaper option of electrification."

Kids who come across a coal range these days might wonder what it was for. Kids in the future who come across some strange metal things sticking out of the hob or a gas bottle attached to the house may soon wonder the same thing.

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