By Ron Bryant. I appreciate the Observer’s reporting on the climate treaty but want to add some important facts from Cornell University’s Methane Project. Natural gas is not a “cleaner” option to coal, as methane, including that leaked/vented from natural gas operations, is 100 times worse than CO2.
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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NC NAACP, NC WARN Launch Campaign to Ban Use of Climate-Busting Fracked Gas — News Release
The NC NAACP and climate justice nonprofit NC WARN have joined forces in a new statewide campaign calling on Governor Roy Cooper to phase out the import and use of fracked gas in North Carolina. They say this state must seize this urgent opportunity to help slow the global climate crisis, especially due to a failure of national leadership, and to stem the many other harms of fracked gas.
Press Conference with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
Watch the press conference we held at the Governor’s office in Raleigh on June 15, 2017 featuring Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, then-president of the NC NAACP, as part of our Emergency Methane Action campaign.
Please Tell the People: Global Heat Wave Continues in 2017; Methane from Fracking is Major Cause – The Greensboro Times
This ongoing heat wave supports the case made by Cornell scientists and others who argue that methane emissions from the US fracking boom
are a key factor in the unexpected rate of heating since 2014. That fracking boom is being driven by Duke Energy and other utilities burning more and
more shale gas.
Please Tell the People: Global Heat Wave Continues in 2017; Methane from Fracking is Major Cause – Note to News Editors from NC WARN
The nation’s largest carbon-polluting utility is trying to build up to 20 fracked gas-fired power plants in the Carolinas alone, plus the $5.6 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline to supply those plants with fracked gas. Thus Duke Energy is responsible for much of the methane emissions that are now driving the climate crisis.
Charge Toward Natural Gas — WUNC
Two WUNC stories on natural gas, the threat of methane to the climate and doubts about future natural gas supply projections.
How Reliable Is Natural Gas? — WUNC
Last year Duke Energy acquired Piedmont Natural Gas … a marker of the energy industry’s shift toward using natural gas to produce electricity. Supporters of natural gas say it is cheaper and burns cleaner than coal. But critics argue that methane leaks during storage and transportation, which can accelerate global warming.
In delaying recommendation, Duke University subcommittee concerned about “credibility” problem with new natural gas plant — NC Policy Watch
For a university that has always been protective of its global reputation, contributing to global greenhouse gases through a natural gas plant is no way to burnish that image. That’s one of the conclusions of a Duke University Campus Sustainability Subcommittee, which released a report on a proposed combined heat-and- power natural gas plant today.
Duke University puts off proposed Duke Energy power plant — Charlotte Business Journal
Duke University has delayed a vote by its trustees on the controversial $55 million combined heat-and-power plant that Duke Energy has proposed building on the campus.
Duke delays asking trustees for vote on power plant — Herald Sun
Plans for a gas-turbine power plant at Duke University ran into another delay Tuesday, with administrators saying they’ll hold off on asking campus trustees to green-light the $55 million project.