NW Natural CEO David Anderson used a quarterly earnings conference call on Friday to discuss the importance of the natural gas industry’s move to decarbonize as a way to mitigate climate change.

The Portland, OR-based operator plans to be carbon neutral by 2050 in keeping with state mandates, said Anderson, who chairs the American Gas Association (AGA). He said NW Natural executives are learning a lot about how to utilize hydrogen in the decarbonization efforts by looking at what’s been done in Europe.

Anderson said the United States also should learn more from the recent severe winter weather. In Oregon, many customers were without power during a major wind and ice storm in February, but unlike Texas, in most cases customers still had gas for cooking and heating.

“The...