Leaking wells aren’t just a concern for communities who live close to them. They’re also a major concern for the climate, as methane — a gas that’s been found to be leaking from up to 40 percent of gas wells in some parts of Pennsylvania — acts as a potent greenhouse gas. In May, Cornell professor Robert Howarth said in a statement that, if the U.S. doesn’t take steps to curb methane emissions from oil and gas development, that failure to act could have catastrophic consequences. “We have to control methane immediately, and natural gas is the largest methane pollution source in the United States,” Howarth said. “If we hit a climate-system tipping point because of methane, our carbon dioxide problem is immaterial. We have to get a handle on methane, or increasingly risk global catastrophe.”
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 19:04:30 +0000
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