A globally prominent expert on methane’s impacts on the climate is urging Governor Roy Cooper and Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good to lead a cooperative effort for North Carolina to help slow the global climate emergency. In a letter signed by 40 former EPA officials from this state, Dr. Drew Shindell said lessons from the ongoing pandemic and the cancelled Atlantic Coast fracked gas Pipeline (ACP) provide a critically important opportunity to spring forward to a more equitable and economically timely “new normal” while a return to business as usual could be disastrous.
See the Op-Ed Running in the N&O, Charlotte Observer, Durham Herald-Sun, NC Policy Watch, and the Fayetteville Observer
Methane is Top Climate Problem
Scientific evidence is mounting that methane leakage from the natural gas industry — and from fracking in particular — is the top driver of climate change. The press release accompanying the UN’s Global Methane Assessment states that “cutting methane is the strongest lever we have to slow climate change.” Duke University’s Dr. Drew Shindell, lead author of the UN assessment, said, “One thing the report calls for very strongly is not building any more of this fossil fuel infrastructure. When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” Dr. Shindell has joined us in making the same argument to Gov. Roy Cooper, appealing to him to stop Duke Energy’s massive gas expansion. More info below and on our Duke Energy Gas Expansion page.
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Greenhouse emissions from gas higher than industry estimates — IEEFA Podcast
If only 3% of gas produced is leaked, gas is worse for the climate than coal. Yet it’s more than 3%. BP says it’s 3.2%. And a recent study of the Permian Basin found that 3.7% was lost in the production process. What’s this telling us? This is the gas industry’s ‘Volkswagen’ moment.
As the cost of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline soars, renewable energy is the better option for NC — News & Observer
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a long way from being constructed, but it’s already proving a leaky conduit for cash.
More Science Shows Duke Energy’s Huge Fracked Gas Expansion is Disastrous for Climate — News Release from NC WARN
A new study published in the British journal Nature has dramatically boosted earlier evidence that the accelerated use of “natural” gas by U.S. electricity corporations is a key driver of the climate crisis that has belatedly gripped the public’s attention.
It’s a Vast, Invisible Climate Menace. We Made It Visible. — NY Times
To the naked eye, there is nothing out of the ordinary at the DCP Pegasus gas processing plant in West Texas, one of the thousands of installations in the vast Permian Basin that have transformed America into the largest oil and gas producer in the world. But a highly specialized camera sees what the human eye cannot: a major release of methane, the main component of natural gas and a potent greenhouse gas that is helping to warm the planet at an alarming rate.
The False Promise of Natural Gas — New England Journal of Medicine
Natural gas, composed principally of methane, has been hailed as a clean “transition” fuel … But beneath this rosy narrative lies a more complex story. Gas is associated with health and environmental hazards and reduced social welfare at every stage of its life cycle.
A warning for NC on the climate cost of natural gas — Editorial
From the editorial boards of the News & Observer and Charlotte Observer. It sounded good a few years ago: natural gas, cleaner than coal and better for the environment. But now burning more natural gas is sounding like the wrong turn at the wrong time.
Duke scientist: Stop building natural gas infrastructure now — WRAL
A climate scientist at Duke University, in a letter backed by two dozen former officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, called Thursday for a halt to natural gas development in North Carolina.
Experts’ Letter Asks Gov. To Halt Construction Of New Gas Plants And Pipelines — WFAE
A Duke University climate scientist and 27 former federal environmental officials are calling on Gov. Roy Cooper to order a halt on building new gas pipelines and power plants in North Carolina.
Duke climatologist seeks a halt on gas-fired power plants, Atlantic Coast Pipeline — News & Observer
One of the world’s leading climate scientists said the state’s long-range clean energy plan doesn’t go far enough to curb a potent greenhouse gas. In a letter to Gov. Roy Cooper dated Thursday, Drew Shindell, Nicholas Professor of Earth Science at Duke University, takes aim at methane, a gas more efficient than carbon dioxide at holding heat.