IE Investigations
Dangerous Air? Data Lacking On Oil And Gas Waste Emissions
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A new study of air emissions from oil and gas waste pits may yield information about public health hazards.
Inside Energy (https://insideenergy.org/tag/emissions/page/2/)
A new study of air emissions from oil and gas waste pits may yield information about public health hazards.
As states ready for the Obama Administration to release new carbon emissions regulations next week, a major question looms: What’s the most sensible way to measure and compare greenhouse gas production? Two states dwarf all others when it comes to sheer amount of carbon dioxide released: Texas and California. Texas is such a carbon giant that it accounts for 12% of U.S. emissions and produces nearly twice as much as the next closest state, California. This graph shows 2011 carbon dioxide emissions based on Energy Information Administration (EIA) data:
But there’s more than one way to slice and dice emissions data. Looking at carbon dioxide produced per dollar earned by industry, the story changes: Wyoming tops all states in carbon emitted per dollar earned, followed by West Virginia and North Dakota.
In just two days flying over oil and gas operations in Colorado’s Front Range, scientists found nearly three times as much methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, as regulators estimated to be coming from the sites.