NOx in Heating oil is significantly reduced: heating oil can contain less than 15 parts per million of sulfer. That is a 200-fold decrease in sulfer since 2014.
Heating oil is a partially renewable fuel: more and more heating oils contain 2% – 5% plant derived biofuel, and likely to increase over time. Biofuel is a renewable energy source which also helps heating oil burn more completely while also helping your oil tank stay clean and free of sediment.
Heating oil is safer than natural gas: on Sept. 13, 2018, old natural gas lines ruptured in an area of north of Boston, Mass, causing a series of explosions and fires damaging 40 homes and causing the death of a teenage boy. Gas service to more than 8000 homes was shut off, and some homes were without central heating more than a month later. This not an isolated incident – there are an estimated 23-26 gas explosions with 5-8 fatalities that happen across the country every year. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-massachusetts-explosions-factbox/factbox-gas-distribution-line-related-accidents-in-the-united-states-idUSKCN1LU05A)