Recent studies indicate that mining for oil and gas will create more greenhouse gas emissions than previously indicated, as well as pollute drinking water. A recent federal Environmental Protection Agency report illustrates how fracking for natural gas likely contaminated a Wyoming aquifer with major implications for America’s booming natural gas industry, report Abrahm Lustgarten and Nick Kusnetz at Inside Climate News. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA study of 20,000 natural gas wells in Colorado finds that emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, far exceed current estimates for gas drilling and production, up four percent from an estimated two percent, reports Nicholas Kusnetz also at Inside Climate News. Finally, yet another study conducted jointly by NOAA and the University of Colorado finds that oil and natural gas developments along the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado is responsible for twice as much ozone, a greenhouse gas, than should exist, reports Mead Gruver of the Associated Press. The ozone problem also extends into Wyoming, and Utah.
Sources:
Feds Link Gas Fracking to Drinking Water Pollution for the First Time. Abrahm Lustgarten and Nick Kusnetz at Inside Climate News http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20111209/epa-natural-gas-fracking-drinking-water-contamination-chemicals-pavillion-wyoming
Gas Drilling May Be Leaking Twice as Much Gas as Previously Thought, Study Finds. Posted: 09 Feb 2012 01:30 PM PST By Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120209/natural-gas-drilling-methane-air-pollution-noaa-epa?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+solveclimate%2Fblog+%28InsideClimate+News%29
Study: Oil-gas pollution tops expectations. Ozone-forming air pollution measured along the Colorado Front Range by scientists is up to twice the amount that government regulators have calculated should exist, a new study finds. The finding could have broad implications for the petroleum industry across the Rocky Mountain region. Associated Press
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120209/NEWS/120209809/1077&ParentProfile=1058
