JULY 2020

DEP urged to close ‘loopholes’ in new regulation on VOCs and methane

StateImpact Pennsylvania

Public health and environmental activists are urging Pennsylvania officials to close what they say are loopholes in a proposed rule that would require oil and gas producers to sharply reduce emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds.

MAY 2020

Methane Leaks Erase Some of the Climate Benefits of Natural Gas

Scientific American

The switch from coal to gas has driven down CO2 emissions, but leaks negate much of those gains in the short term.

Study finds methane leaks in PA are much higher than state reports

StateImpact Pennsylvania

A new analysis by a group of scientists working with the Environmental Defense Fund found that Pennsylvania’s shale gas industry leaked seven times more methane in 2017 than state reporting for the year indicates. It also found the conventional natural gas industry leaks an even larger amount of methane, despite producing a mere 2 percent of the state’s gas. 

The analysis comes as the state is creating methane rules for thousands of existing wells. 

APRIL 2020

As pandemic forces steep CO2 cuts, some see methane on rise

E&E News

While the economic slowdown from COVID-19 is resulting in lower CO2 emissions, methane researchers are troubled by a continuing "lack of reliable data" from global oil and gas producers, which are the largest man-made sources of the gas.

FEBRUARY 2020

Oil and Gas May Be a Far Bigger Climate Threat Than We Knew

New York Times

Oil and gas production may be responsible for a far larger share of the soaring levels of methane in the earth’s atmosphere than previously thought, new research has found.

DECEMBER 2019

It’s a Vast, Invisible Climate Menace. We Made It Visible.

New York Times

Immense amounts of methane are escaping from oil and gas sites nationwide, worsening global warming, even as the Trump administration weakens restrictions on offenders.

JUNE 2018

Natural gas industry aims to stop methane leaks to become fuel of the future

Washington Examiner

Natural gas's move to replace coal as America’s most-used electricity source is responsible for most of the decline in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions over the last few decades. Natural gas produces about half as many carbon emissions as coal. 

But as the world struggles to meet emissions reductions goals set in the Paris climate change agreement, the natural gas industry knows it must confront its biggest problem — leaks of methane, a short-lived greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide.

MAY 2018

Cleaner air takes all of us working together

PENNLIVE.COM

Since Gov. Tom Wolf was elected, he has remained committed to reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, and his administration has made repeated offers to industry to help craft solutions. Unfortunately, those overtures were met with crickets. And then obstruction.

Range Resources shareholders demand review of methane emissions

StateImpact Pennsylvania

Shareholders at the natural gas driller Range Resources narrowly approved a resolution this week calling on the company to review its policy on cutting methane emissions in a vote that advocates say is the first to succeed on the methane issue at an energy company that operates in Pennsylvania.

MARCH 2018

Analysis reveals true scope of Pennsylvania’s methane emissions, highlights solutions

environmental defense fund

A new analysis estimates that Pennsylvania’s oil and gas companies emit at least five-times more methane pollution than they report to the state.

DECEMBER 2017

Update: Pennsylvania Moving Forward on Methane Controls

PEC BLOG

Last month the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection released long-awaited revised versions of two permitting proposals which are designed to help control methane emissions from new unconventional natural gas wells and their accompanying transmission infrastructure. At the moment, the Department is anticipating finalizing the proposals in early-to-mid 2018.

JULY 2017

The conservative argument for containing methane emissions

PennLive.com

One thing that Pennsylvanians of any political stripe should agree on is that waste is a bad thing. Whether we are talking about money, time, or energy, the prudent--and conservative--approach is always to minimize waste.

JUNE 2017

methane emissions are now, more than ever, a state problem

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

When President Donald Trump announced he wants no part of the Paris climate agreement, binding nearly all of the world's nations to decreasing global warming emissions, Pennsylvania's role in taking on methane — a powerful greenhouse gas that is the main component of the state's growing oil and gas industry — came into sharper focus.

MAY 2017

Lawmakers take note: Pennsylvania’s methane emissions are way up

Energy Exchange Blog (EDF)

The one fact that Pennsylvania lawmakers need to hear is this: Natural gas waste is up 28%.

Governor Cuomo Releases Plan to Cut Methane Emissions

office of governor andrew cuomo (NY)

Plan Complements State's Goal to Reduce Energy Sector Emissions 40 Percent from 1990 Levels by 2030

Regardless of BLM rule's fate, state regs seen as 'win-win-win'

energywire (e&E news)

At the federal level, the Senate voted yesterday against repealing a Bureau of Land Management rule that regulates methane waste on public lands. But at the state level, support for methane regulations is alive and well among a growing chorus of environmentalists, politicians and industry leaders.

Senate unexpectedly rejects bid to repeal a key Obama-era environmental regulation

washington post

The Senate on Wednesday narrowly blocked a resolution to repeal an Obama-era rule restricting methane emissions from drilling operations on public lands — with three Republicans joining every Democrat to preserve the rule.

MARCH 2017

find and fix [pdf]

job creation in the emerging methane leak detection and repair industry

The following report introduces policy makers, companies, researchers, and the general public to the growing methane leak detection and repair (LDAR) services industry and analyzes its economic impact to date and future growth potential.

FEBRUARY 2017

sixteen studies on methane [pdf]

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND

Methane (CH4) is a growing environmental concern. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is contributing to climate change. Science confirms methane is a problem that requires urgent attention. Reducing emissions of both methane and carbon dioxide is critical to slowing the rate of earth’s warming and limiting peak warming.

JANUARY 2017

opposition to pa senate bill 175

LEGISLATION WOULD LIMIT PENNSYLVANIA'S ABILITY TO CONTROL METHANE EMISSIONS

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council opposes Senate Bill 175, which would prevent the Department of Environmental Protection from enacting any state-specific measures to limit methane emissions from natural gas operations.

NOVEMBER 2016

Robinson speaks about measuring and mapping methane leaks at Environmental Defense Fund panel

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

Mechanical Engineering Department Head Allen Robinson spoke at an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) technical briefing and press conference about research efforts to measure and map methane leaks in Pittsburgh on November 15. 

OCTOBER 2016

(Un)Conventional Thinking, Part 2

PENNSYLVANIA ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL

In Pennsylvania, we are likely on our way to meeting the goals of the Clean Power Plan because of increased installation of renewable generation sources and a massive switch from coal to natural gas. But the benefits of that new natural gas generation can be negated if we do not comprehensively control for methane leakage between well pad and burner tip. 

MARCH 2016

PENNSYLVANIA SHOWS EPA THE WAY ON PENDING METHANE POLICY

The Hill

Pennsylvania is no stranger to fossil fuels. Its coal powered the industrial revolution, its innovators drilled the world’s first oil well, and now it’s America's second largest gas producer, after Texas. Today, the state understands that oil and gas production carries a responsibility to deal with the impacts that follow.

JANUARY 2016

A PENNSYLVANIA FRAMEWORK OF ACTIONS FOR METHANE REDUCTIONS FROM THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR

office of governor tom wolf (pa)

Governor Tom Wolf has launched a groundbreaking strategy to reduce emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, and has been implicated in health risks. The plan is designed to reduce emissions from natural gas well sites, compressor stations and along pipelines, and will protect the environment, reduce climate change, and help businesses reduce the waste of a valuable product.

PENNSYLVANIA ADDRESSES OIL AND GAS METHANE EMISSIONS

ENERGY GLOBAL

“Today’s announcement by Governor Wolf is welcome news and sets the stage for much needed regulatory clarity that will improve air quality, protect Pennsylvanians, and have significant impacts on the Commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Davitt Woodwell, President of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. “This is an important step, and Governor Wolf is right to commit to best-in-class management of the impacts of natural gas development including the strong air quality protections that Pennsylvanians deserve. We look forward to swift implementation.”

FEBRUARY 2015

Collaborative Study Measures Methane Emissions at Natural Gas Transmission and Storage Sites

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

A Colorado State University-led research team has completed the most comprehensive field study to date of the amount of methane being emitted at the nation's natural gas transmission and storage infrastructure, which includes roughly 2,000 compressor stations distributed along 300,000 miles of pipeline, underground storage facilities and other equipment.

JANUARY 2015

regulating methane emissions necessary

pittsburgh business times

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council has called for robust controls on methane emissions.

Here's why: Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame. If you want to avert near-term acceleration of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing methane should be at the top of everyone's list.

OCTOBER 2014

the emerging u.s. methane mitigation industry [pdf]

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND

The U.S. oil and natural gas system, including the production, gathering and processing, transmission, and distribution of natural gas, is the nation’s largest industrial source of methane emissions (EPA 2014b). Methane emissions also present an economic challenge for the oil and gas industry. Total methane emissions across the oil and gas sector are estimated to be worth $1.8 billion.1 To help the oil and gas industry meet these challenges, dozens of companies from different backgrounds have developed technologies and services to reduce methane emissions. The result is a new and rapidly emerging methane mitigation industry.