How are you going to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in 2021?
The presidential debates should be about the climate emergency. But the 2020 Commission on Presidential Debates is not planning to include climate questions. Why would they exclude the ongoing climate emergency, the most vital threat for all life on the planet? Climate Hawks, a grassroots organization, has a petition demanding climate be the central issue of the debates.
“Methane lies” is not only about greenhouse gases and rising levels of methane in the atmosphere, it is also about a nation divided by lies and hate. We don’t have a Royal Family with special privileges and absolute power, nor a dictator ruling with military power against citizens and an excessive police force. We have a divided republic and a democracy at risk of collapse.
Here are the top methane lies: Burning methane for electricity is better than burning coal. Methane emissions should be ignored to help frackers pay their debt. Plugging abandoned wells to stop endless methane emissions is too expensive and unnecessary. Methane exports will keep the US economy growing.
Plugging abandoned wells
Close your eyes and think about taking a juicy watermelon and a hypodermic syringe with a long needle. Imagine the feeling of slowly pushing the needle through the smooth surface, breaking the skin, going through the rind, you feel the changing consistency until you hit the sweet spot. Leave the needle and repeat the process 99 times. Making holes is easy, plugging holes is not. The fracking materials remain in the ground, forever, rusting and contaminating underground water.
In the US, more than 100-years of drilling have left 3 million abandoned oil and gas wells and more than 2 million wells are “unplugged.” Abandoned wells gush millions of metric tons of methane but plugging the wells can cut methane emissions by 99%. If we have the money to drill holes, we should have the money to plug them.
Sources of methane
Methane is released as a direct result of the physical process of coal extraction. Coal mining is a dangerous source of air pollution and methane emissions for miners and the environment. In 2000 there were more than 1,000 coal-fired power plants in the U.S., down to 360 in 2019, replacing coal with gas. In the process, we increased methane emissions.
From February through June 2020, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) conducted a survey on the Permian Basin methane emissions. The Permian is the largest U.S. fracking field, about 250 miles wide and 300 miles long in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
Oil operators are not allowed to vent methane coming from the wells around the clock and instead try to burn the gas using tall flares. If you have used a gas grill you know the flame goes out on windy days. The EDF study detected 11 percent defective flares and 5 percent unlit. Reported emissions were underestimated. Please see www.permianmap.org for details.
Methane Exports
Exporting methane as liquified natural gas (LNG) is immoral. Frackers dream of LNG exports.
The U.S. exports of LNG are like Colombia selling cocaine to American addicts. Making massive profits does not justify people’s suffering. Building LNG $10 billion gas-to-liquid shipping terminals on the Gulf Coast, ignoring monster hurricanes, is Drug Lord madness. How is Donald Trump’s criminal behavior different from Drug Lords?
Rise up
The first three words of the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, “We the People” have a special meaning. As Americans, we have the right to choose the best person to protect all citizens.
The isolation and denials about a virus that may linger for years along with a broken economy and threats to healthcare are like a perfect storm.
Empathy, compassion, love, honesty, courage, and reflection are on our side. Beware of your emotions, they may seem hardwired, but we own our emotions. It is time to regenerate our brains. Take time to think and the courage to act.
We have a democracy, if we can keep it. Get ready to vote and make your voice heard.
Dr. Luis Contreras
Natural gas is a much ‘dirtier’ energy source, carbon-wise, than we thought
A potent greenhouse gas, methane’s carbon core and hydrogen arms are arranged in a configuration that makes it exceptional at absorbing heat. On a 20-year timescale, a methane molecule is roughly 90 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than a molecule of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that wields the most control over Earth’s future warming in the long-term.
Methane’s atmospheric concentrations have increased by at least 150 percent since the Industrial Revolution. Because of its potency, the more of it there is in the air the harder it will be to keep the planet’s temperatures from soaring past global climate goals.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/super-potent-methane-in-atmosphere-oil-gas-drilling-ice-cores/
The Bakken Boom Goes Bust
August 2020
More than a decade ago, fracking took off in the Bakken shale of North Dakota and Montana, but the oil rush that followed has resulted in major environmental damage, risky oil transportation without regulation, pipeline permitting issues, and failure to produce profits.
Now, after all of that, the Bakken oil field appears moving toward terminal decline, with the public poised to cover the bill to clean up the mess caused by its ill-fated boom.
From here, the outlook only gets worse for the Bakken.
https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/08/08/bakken-fracking-oil-boom-bust-hess-cleanup
January 7, 2020 – The American Petroleum Institute (API) today launched “Energy for Progress,” a nationwide TV and digital ad campaign highlighting the natural gas and oil industry’s leadership in reducing emissions to record low levels and supporting economic and environmental progress in local communities.
The new campaign was unveiled as more than 800 government, labor and industry leaders gathered for API’s annual State of American Energy event in Washington today.
LIES: API is not like the Trump University where you pay $45,000 and get a “Genious” certificate in the mail, this is a O&G lobbying organization shamesly selling methane.
Where did they find 800 people? This is a made-up number, you have to be a fracker to attend and sign a document stating “I know methane kills, I don’t care.”
https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/news/2020/01/07/soae-2020-release
Chiggers and ticks are found in the Ozarks, they are natural, but if they crawl on your legs while you are taking a nap you will cry and hurt for days.
All fossil-fuels are natural, they are extracted from the ground, not made in factories. Coal and oil are natural, but you hardly hear of natural coal.
Petrol is a name for gasoline, a liquid fuel sold in Gas Stations.
Methane CH4 represents over 90% of what we call natural gas. It comes out of shale wells roaring at high pressure, an odorless invisible gas.
At the point of combustion, it burns “cleaner” than coal, and is falsely billed by the industry as a “bridge fuel” while we wait for clean energy.
A new report, published a couple of weeks ago, inspired the title of this op-ed: Methane lying liars and the lies they tell us.
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/13/methane-lying-liars-and-the-lies-they-tell-us/