NC WARN asks Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good to join our call for investigation of methane leakage scandal and to join us in getting methane emissions under control.
Top US Climate Problem
Cornell University’s Dr. Robert Howarth says methane leakage from the natural gas industry — and from fracking in particular — is the top driver of US greenhouse gas emissions. See a video, written testimony and a PowerPoint from Howarth. Howarth gives an excellent 3-minute summary in this video.
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The most important mystery about U.S. climate change policy — The Washington Post
Environmentalists have charged for some time that the fracking boom — the rise in unconventional natural gas that is the key driver of all of this — has a dark underbelly. Natural gas’s principal component is methane, which is also a greenhouse gas. And if it gets to the atmosphere unburned, it has a much larger warming effect than carbon dioxide does, over a period of about 10 years.
Utilities commission ignores public concerns about Duke’s Asheville gas-fired plant — Winston-Salem Journal
In February, Duke Energy gave notice to the N.C. Utilities Commission that it planned to build a gas-fired power plant at the current Asheville coal power plant site. Four months later, the N.C. General Assembly approved, and Gov. Pat McCrory signed, the innocuous-sounding Mountain Energy Act, sponsored by state Sen. Tom Apodaca (R-Henderson), which essentially greased the skids for a short, 45-day decision on Duke’s request. The normal time for such a decision is about 180 days, which is much better, considering the controversial nature of this request.
Why Natural Gas Might Not Be A ‘Bridge Fuel’ — WUNC’s The State of Things
Natural gas is considered a “bridge fuel” between fossil fuels and renewable energy, but experts warn that it can actually be worse than coal for the environment.
This interview features Dr. Robert Howarth of Cornell University, who will be joining NC WARN on March 29th for two special public events discussing the dangers of fracking and methane to our health and climate.
Fracking could be behind startling increase in US methane surge, experts say — Independent (UK)
Startling increases in one of the main pollutants that cause global warming have been unexpectedly discovered over the United States – and the main suspect is the country’s booming fracking industry.
Methane leaks across US pose a much greater threat than Aliso Canyon — The Guardian
When Stephen Conley, an atmospheric scientist and pilot, saw an emissions indicator skyrocket in his Mooney TLS prop plane, he knew he had found a significant methane leak. His gas-detecting Picarro analyzer indicated he was flying through a plume of gas escaping at 900kg per hour. The colorless, odorless gas was enough to cover a football field to a height of 20 feet in a single day. But this flight wasn’t over the highly publicized Aliso Canyon in Los Angeles; Conley was circling the Bakken Shale, a rock formation in western North Dakota that has been aggressively pumped for oil and natural gas.
US ‘likely culprit’ of global spike in methane emissions over last decade — The Guardian
There was a huge global spike in one of the most potent greenhouse gases driving climate change over the last decade, and the U.S. may be the biggest culprit, according a new Harvard University study.
Three Prominent Experts: Duke Power Plant Should be Rejected — News Release from NC WARN & The Climate Times
Today NC WARN and The Climate Times filed a legal motion and affidavits by three prominent technical experts urging state regulators to deny Duke Energy’s application to build a huge natural gas power plant in Asheville because it is not needed, would be high-risk economically, and would accelerate the global climate crisis at the worst possible time.
Amid Paris Climate Talks, Duke’s Giant Gas Expansion under Fire — News Release from NC WARN
As Paris negotiators seek to avert irreversible global climate disruption, the nation’s largest carbon-polluting utility has been steaming full-speed backward with a climate- and economy-wrecking plan to greatly expand the burning and piping of fracked and conventional natural gas. Today NC WARN and The Climate Times openly pressed Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good to slow down, to weigh the evolving science and economics of natural gas, and to realize that she must share such critical decision-making with the people of North Carolina.
Fracking: Gangplank to Climate Chaos
Read our October 2013 fact sheet on fracking.