A federal appeals court on Monday threw out construction certificates for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, likely halting work on the $6 billion project planned by major Southeastern utilities.
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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Two Dukes, PR and Biogas from Hog Manure– Letter from NC WARN
Letter to Dr. Vincent E. Price, President Duke University, and Lynn Good, President & CEO Duke Energy: Amid prodigious PR by the two Dukes since the spring about creating biogas from hog waste, there apparently has been little or no technology breakthrough in several years.
We are cooking up the Earth for long-range problems — News & Record
Op-ed by Beth McKee-Huger. The Earth is “cooking with gas.” Remember that ad? Large amounts of methane leak from fracking and gas lines. Since methane is 100 times more powerful as a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide, that heats up the Earth.
Natural Gas Drillers Are Fighting for Their Lives — Bloomberg
The natural gas industry is on a mission to prove it can keep up with the green energy industry, whose price reductions are starting to become a competitive threat to fossil fuels.
General Electric’s power unit fights for growth as wind, solar gain — Reuters
The competition from solar and wind, along with abundant low-priced gas produced by fracking, is curbing orders for new plants and forcing the closure of old ones. Some utilities are even filing for bankruptcy. “That means companies are going to have trouble selling new fossil-fuel plants,” said Mark Dyson, a principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute, an organization that researches the power industry.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Faces Civil Rights Complaint After Key Permit Is Blocked — Inside Climate News
Opponents of the gas pipeline say state and federal agencies failed to assess the health impacts the project would have on minorities, as required under federal law.
Pipeline Neighbors File Civil Rights Complaint vs State of NC — News Release from NC WARN
Groups say approval of Atlantic Coast Pipeline cheated vulnerable residents out of federal civil rights protections for low-income communities and people of color. 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.
See coverage in the N&O
See coverage in the Progressive Pulse
See coverage in Inside Climate News
Atlantic Coast Pipeline opponents file civil rights complaint vs. DEQ — The Progressive Pulse
Thirteen environmental justice groups and their affiliates allege the state Department of Environmental Quality discriminated against communities of color when it approved permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline opponents say state ignored minorities’ civil rights — News and Observer
A coalition of environmental organizations opposed to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline filed a complaint Tuesday claiming Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration failed to protect residents’ civil rights when it issued permits for the project.
EPA Cover-up, Whistleblower on Methane Emissions
Letter from NC WARN to EPA’s Inspector General. The whistleblower was right, and the cover-up continues. This scandal goes to the core of the vast expansion of fracked gas by Duke Energy and other utilities.