GlobalPossibilities.org: 5 Reasons Natural Gas Won't Be

an environmental and economic savior. If you're hoping the natural gas boom means we've solved our environmental and economic woes, you're going to be disappointed. While natural gas produces less nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide, when burned, compared to coal or oil, the end product is only part of the story. The natural gas boom in recent years has been fueled by extreme extraction methods like fracking, that are posing a new slurry of environmental problems before the gas even makes it to consumers. If you look at the complete picture of how we extract natural gas today, you begin to realize pretty quickly that we aren't going to be able to drill our way out of the climate crisis, without creating an even bigger mess in the process. The list of impacts from fracking is huge, but here are five to kick off the conversation: 1. Methane: Natural gas may release less pollution when burned, but it still may be a significant contributor to global warming pollution after all, because we must take into account what happens during extraction too. "Scientists are once again reporting alarmingly high methane emissions from an oil and gas field, underscoring questions about the environmental benefits of the boom in natural gas production that is transforming the US energy system," writes Jeff Toliefson for Nature. He explains: The researchers, who hold joint appointments with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the toxic soup of hundreds of chemicals, including carcinogens and volatile organic compounds like benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylene. Companies aren't required to disclose what chemicals they are using either, so it makes it difficult to test for leaks and spills, and for people to be treated for health problems that may arise from exposure. University of Colorado in Boulder, first sparked concern in February 2012, with a study suggesting that up to 4% of the methane produced at a field near Denver was escaping into the atmosphere. If methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is leaking from fields across the country at similar rates, it could be offsetting much of the climate benefit of the ongoing shift from coal to gas fired plants for electricity generation. Industry officials and some scientists contested the claim, but at an American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in San Francisco, California last month, the research team reported new Colorado data that supported the earlier work, as well as preliminary results from a field study in the Uinta Basin of Utah, suggesting even higher rates of methane leakage, an eye popping 9% of the total production. That figure is nearly double the cumulative loss rates estimated from industry data, which are already higher in Utah than in Colorado. Oh yeah, and fracking is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, thanks to Dick Cheney!