This is further proof that Duke Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline and more fracked gas power plants are disastrous for the climate
A bombshell new study by NASA concludes that methane emissions from the oil and gas industry have grown rapidly and are a key driver of global warming. The findings support many earlier studies, and bolster the argument that a huge rise in super-potent methane emissions is linked to soaring global temperatures in recent years.
This is further evidence that utilities’ massive expansion of fracked natural gas pipelines and power plants is driving humanity toward the cliff to climate chaos.
Here is a very good summary of the new NASA study from Think Progress.
NASA found that two-thirds of the sharp rise in global methane emissions in the past decade is from fossil fuels – and the increase is “substantially larger” than previously thought.
The sharp increase in methane emissions correlates closely with the US fracking boom.
NASA’s study adds to the urgency of openly and fully addressing the climate implications of the enormous expansion of fracked natural gas power plants and pipelines by Duke Energy and other US utilities. Leaking and venting of unburned gas – which is mostly methane – makes natural gas even worse for the climate than coal.
NASA’s study supports scientists such as Cornell’s Dr. Robert Howarth, who emphasizes that cutting methane emissions can immediately help slow global warming, compared to the decades-long impacts of carbon dioxide.
As Dr. Howarth says, the expanded use of natural gas for electricity – especially fracked gas – is “disastrous” for the climate.
