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.
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.
Jump to a Subcategory
All News Categories
In a setback for utilities, FERC denies Atlantic Coast Pipeline request for tree-cutting extension — The Progressive Pulse
Duke Energy’s Libel Threat, Climate-Wrecking & Subversion of Democracy — News Release from NC WARN
Support for our CEO challenge grows – including the national Americans Against Fracking alliance of 300 groups. See the letter we sent to Duke CEO Lynn Good today for the full list of organizations that have endorsed our call for her to get on the right side of climate history.
Duke eyes building a gas-turbine power plant on campus. Environmentalists wary. Why? — The Herald Sun
Duke University ought to conduct a “bottom-up” review of its energy needs, one open to community groups, before deciding to do anything like allowing a utility to install a gas-turbine power plant on campus, a coalition of environmental and political groups says. The coalition includes Durham’s People’s Alliance, the city’s single most influential political organization, and weighed in on March 9 via a letter to Duke President Vince Price.
Tell University President Price to Come Clean About Fracked Gas Plant — Alert from NC WARN
After plans for a fracked gas-burning plant on Duke University’s campus were twice delayed by campus and community voices, the university appears to be trying to sneak past concerned students, community members and alumni in order to allow Duke Energy to build the plant on campus – and force its other customers to pay for it.
How Climate Activists Failed to Make Clear the Problem with Natural Gas — Yale Environment 360
Indian Tribes, Others Join Appeal of Atlantic Coast Fracked Gas Pipeline — News Release from NC WARN
Atlantic Coast Pipeline price tag could hit $6.5B, Duke Energy CEO says — Charlotte Business Journal
Entertainment Activists & 36 Nonprofits to Duke Energy CEO: Help Avert Climate, Social Chaos before It’s Too Late for Us All — News Release from NC WARN
Nine national organizations join call for Lynn Good to get on the right side of history; ad campaign will urge more nonprofits, businesses and individuals to speak up. Support this effort by emailing Lynn Good at ceo@duke-energy.com and tweeting @DukeEnergy with #ClimateAction.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will not bring the jobs that it claims — The News & Observer
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and Governor Cooper just capitulated to pressure and abdicated their responsibility to their state and to the people who elected Cooper. Governor Cooper and the NC DEQ relied on questionable data, provided by Dominion Energy, when they granted the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) one of its most coveted permits. It doesn’t take much to pull the curtain back on the economic projections conducted by the pipeline to realize its promises are a fantasy.