by Ryan Beam, Energy Program
On a day of steady winds in February 2012, a small plane wove around the Uinta Basin oil and gas field of northeastern Utah. The calm, consistent weather conditions that day were ideal for the flight’s objective − detecting methane emissions from the oil and gas operations below.
Methane, the main component of natural gas, escapes into the atmosphere from both oil and natural gas systems. Old, outdated equipment leaks gas into the air, and wasteful systems that lack adequate capacity vent or flare excess gas into the atmosphere – a glaring, flaring problem indeed.
Air samples from the flight showed 6 to 12 percent of total natural gas production in the Uinta Basin escaping into the atmosphere – a rate of pollution roughly equivalent to 100 million cars driving around an area roughly the size of New Hampshire.
Over a 20-year time period, methane contributes to climate change more than 80 times as much as carbon dioxide. Methane emissions make up a significant portion of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and the oil and gas industries release more of this pollution than any other single source.
The Colorado Plateau – home to the Uinta Basin as well as the San Juan Basin, the largest methane hotspot in the country – functions as both a hotbed for methane emissions and an epicenter for the effects of climate change. The consequences of this phenomenon, which include crippling drought, struggling ecosystems, and shaky water supplies for our communities, are already visible across these beloved lands and are only expected to get worse.
Furthermore, methane, and the slew of other toxic and smog-forming hitchhiker gases it is released with, directly threaten human health and contribute to ground-level ozone. Communities near areas of extensive oil and gas development suffer elevated levels of cancer, respiratory disease, and neurological disorders.
The good news? Approximately 45 percent of these industrial methane emissions can be eliminated at a reasonable cost using current technologies that capture gas that would otherwise be vented, leaked, or flared.
Recognizing this as an obvious opportunity to make real progress towards greenhouse gas reduction goals, the Obama Administration directed the EPA and BLM to update their antiquated and inadequate methane capture rules – a process both agencies are undergoing right now.
Three years after that meandering flight over the Uinta Basin, the Grand Canyon Trust is working to put us on a direct path towards fixing this problem. The Trust serves as the voice for the Uinta Basin and the Colorado Plateau within a national coalition of organizations pushing for more effective EPA and BLM rules. As this voice, we call for a sensible solution that will curb reckless methane waste from our public lands. By doing so, we can buy time to learn how to best protect this uniquely vulnerable landscape and our human communities from the impacts of climate change.
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