 Fossil fuels are dead. Long live fossil fuels. Or at least one of them, natural gas. Natural might trick you into thinking it's not harmful. The oil and gas industry sure wants you to see it that way. According to the Energy Watch Group, switching from coal and oil to natural gas accelerates climate change through alarming methane emissions. In a manifestation of climate hypocrisy, Brussels and our European governments say they are phasing out gas. They are not. New gas projects worth 104 billion euros are underway. Capacity for LNG terminals is to be increased by 54%, and an extra 12,842 kilometers of pipelines are coming down the line. And in the European Commission list of the so-called projects of common interest, there are 32 gas projects that have been deemed eligible for funding by the EU. In the meantime, Europe craves more gas as if there were no climate crisis. It's 2020, and the US antagonizing Russia's pipeline diplomacy is now pushing its own freedom gas to Germany and Poland. In the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece and Turkey teetered on the brink of war over hypothetical gas fuels. Libya is turning into the new Syria, with Turkey, Russia, France and Italy vying over gas reserves. But does Europe really need all that gas? As early as 2015, the European Court of Auditors said that the Commission repeatedly overestimated future gas demand. So who decides whether Europe needs more gas or not? The EU officially relies on the estimations of a lobby group, its ENSOG, a network of Europe's gas operators that determines how many pipelines are needed. Marketed as the bridge fuel, gas is now supposed to carry the world on its shoulders until a clean solution such as hydrogen can take over. But guess who are the members of the new Clean Hydrogen Alliance? Once again, solely industry representatives that will tell the European Commission which projects are needed. The greatest trick the gas industry ever pulled was convincing the world that even a hydrogen future cannot exist without gas. By making sure, in other words, the bridge extends to eternity.