The notion that fracked gas is a clean transition fuel is widespread. This video debunks the lie.
Methane, Fracked Gas & Climate
Methane (the main component in natural gas) is 100 times as bad for the climate as carbon dioxide over the short term. Less CO2 is emitted by natural gas than by coal when burned. But significant leakage of methane before burning makes gas a disaster for the climate, as revealed even more by recent science. Yet utilities and the gas industry are still feverishly promoting fracked gas.
NC WARN is working hard to connect the dots between climate change, methane leakage and the fracking boom that is driven by demand from the electric power industry.
Learn more about our methane work here.
Watch a 3-minute video by Cornell University’s Dr. Robert Howarth describing why natural gas is a disastrous strategy for the climate. More videos, PowerPoints and documentation here.
“Everything You Need to Know About Methane”, a primer by Earthjustice.
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Fracking may cook the planet. But who’s listening? — The News & Observer
Jim Warren, the executive director of the Durham-based consumer advocacy group NC Warn, seems these days like a frantic lead character from a 1950s science fiction movie. He has seen an invisible gas being released by powerful corporations that is endangering the planet — but no one will listen to him. He’s not surprised that the corporations – especially Duke Energy – don’t want to believe him. But he’s mystified that news outlets that usually would pounce on such news are oddly indifferent.
Robeson Rises — A Film by EcoRobeson, Appalachian Voices & Green Hero Films
As a proposed pipeline threatens to disrupt communities and ecosystems across North Carolina, a group of diverse activists rises up to challenge construction. The new film Robeson Rises documents their journey. Watch the 20-minute film.
WUNC, Media Failure on Climate Crisis — Letter from NC WARN
Letter to Connie Walker, President and General Manager of WUNC Radio, on the continuing news media failure in covering Duke Energy, fracked gas and accelerating climate urgency.
Read May 2 follow-up letter
Read N&O editorial backing our complaint
Write your own letter to WUNC
Duke delays plans for CHP plant, to focus on biogas options — Duke Today
Duke University has delayed indefinitely plans to build a freestanding Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant and will instead focus its attention on expanding opportunities to use biogas and other environmentally friendly fuels for its growing energy needs, university officials announced on Friday.
Why Duke should say no to Duke — The Charlotte Observer
Today’s college students face a common challenge. One way or another, global climate change touches, or will touch, every aspect of their lives, from where they live and how they work to what they eat. Colleges and universities have an obligation to prepare them to be part of the solution . Our leading research institutions have a special role to play in helping to cut the dangerous carbon pollution that’s driving climate change, by showing how to shift away from the fossil fuels of the past toward cleaner, smarter ways to power our future.
Duke delays construction of proposed power plant indefinitely — The Chronicle
Duke has decided to delay construction indefinitely of a proposed Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, the University announced Friday. Instead, the University will pursue opportunities to employ biogas and other fuels for its energy. The proposed plant has drawn considerable criticism on campus and in the community, as groups including the Duke Climate Coalition and NC WARN have opposed the construction of the natural gas-powered facility.
Duke University Delays Fracked Gas Plant — Statement from NC WARN
We applaud Duke University leaders for indefinitely suspending plans to allow Duke Energy to build a climate-wrecking fracked gas power plant on campus.
Click title above to read full statement.
Read Duke University press release here
It’s the No. 1 Power Source, but Natural Gas Faces Headwinds — The New York Times
As environmental concerns drive power companies away from using coal, natural gas has emerged as the nation’s No. 1 power source. Plentiful and relatively inexpensive as a result of the nation’s fracking boom, it has been portrayed as a bridge to an era in which alternative energy would take primacy.
In a setback for utilities, FERC denies Atlantic Coast Pipeline request for tree-cutting extension — The Progressive Pulse
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, co-owners of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, will miss the spring deadline to begin tree-cutting in eastern North Carolina because a federal agency has denied their request for an extension.