[rad-green] New Research Shows Fracking’s Grave Toll on Climate

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/02/03/new-research-shows-frackings-grave-toll-climate

For Immediate Release
Monday, February 3, 2020
Organization Profile:
Food & Water Watch
<https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-water-watch>
Contact:

Peter Hart, [email protected], 732-839-0871




New Research Shows Fracking’s Grave Toll on Climate

Much-Touted Emissions Reductions in Move from Coal to Fracked Gas are
Negligible

Sens. Sanders and Merkley, Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Soto Announce New
Fracking Ban Act

WASHINGTON - As the country makes little progress on reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, new research calls into question the supposed climate
benefits of the switch from coal to fracked gas-fired power generation.
That finding comes in Fracking’s Bridge to Climate Chaos: Exposing the
Fossil Fuel Industry’s Deadly Spin
<https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=G62jSYfZdO-2F12d8lSllQB0Si-2BB2BqaYSIbXMNux-2BlR5Lc8qsHeRrJ3VvDxCEuJmRV6fYyh65FHa2RJdo4A-2B1XicKX9TDnSZKcvG8gzxOhsu0URBQf-2FJD7ROr0w0N6Yw4oTshev10E8G7eqG8A6I4dw-3D-3D_lZyMkwqm0dwylylyeUm0R4p5LOd2gLGXYzSBRwff5FUDPoGnCAv75t9Z28JqFagiFjiD-2Fq7LjtyAb9LskG34mfS9PTGysbJBdIfFPRd6Kuo-2FE-2BJbB4T3FH7B3fYSmHFyaKEpf0rF8Yn4mE8L4TmJDHbFDWRPzZq3UccMPjcZY-2BDxw4mhsmaiPgPA0FHDB35CPlxF9Z-2Bwe7mKU0Ir3tiMnf-2BC-2FrtfUqIImCQSj8cRBj9BZPxpudVRvXHxvwkodjoC6TbsA-2FwLT5cqSLhGk-2BMnO0TjAwmpcnFaHcb3-2F-2B3sTu8OoRwqtRETs9PI0roRby2zpCkQZLTjPW-2B9xuvdrMsIh6SJQYfKJ-2FigohR9WnliKzM-3D>,
a new report from the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch.

Over recent years, reductions in emissions from the power sector have been
touted as one of the few bright spots in the drive to decarbonize society.
But a more comprehensive accounting of the carbon dioxide and methane
emissions linked to the production, distribution and combustion of coal and
gas shows that little if any reduction in emissions has been achieved.

“This new research makes one thing absolutely clear: Unless we ban
fracking, these terrifying climate trends will intensify,” said Food &
Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “This report underscores the
toll that fracking has taken on clean air, clean water and a safe climate.
And the industry is looking to expand its footprint by exporting gas across
the world, which only deepens the risks here and abroad. Fracked gas is not
a bridge to a cleaner future—it is a foolish perpetuation of the very
dangerous fossil fuel status quo.”

Meanwhile, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT)  and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Darren Soto (D-FL) announced late
last week the introduction of the Fracking Ban Act
<https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=G62jSYfZdO-2F12d8lSllQB-2F6lY-2BR6D8tfgPJLjCx6y6uHhbrmc3rLTkxQ9nHRn8kGTHcsHJby6lgddae0DetA-2BwBfHAkMP3LWc5R0OPlxUc0-3D_lZyMkwqm0dwylylyeUm0R4p5LOd2gLGXYzSBRwff5FUDPoGnCAv75t9Z28JqFagiFjiD-2Fq7LjtyAb9LskG34mfS9PTGysbJBdIfFPRd6Kuo-2FE-2BJbB4T3FH7B3fYSmHFyaKEpf0rF8Yn4mE8L4TmJDHbFDWRPzZq3UccMPjcZY-2BDxw4mhsmaiPgPA0FHDB35CPlxF9Z-2Bwe7mKU0Ir3tiMnTaLg1NX7Kgn4AL1V6ndzsNRQqWXclT-2FDMY4RfiowkV-2F08NXNfQyH-2FDlRZLO12sbwQdnc2kMM8rCIfwWmjO2cRDY-2FTGithDSX8losPzDIwIwHutWbdKTZi6LccIRQOXUwBY-2FUeBPJNZpgbchpA8yz-2FU-3D>,
legislation that would ban fracking and the infrastructure enabling it
everywhere in America.

In response to the report, Senator Bernie Sanders said: “Fracking is a
danger to our water supply. It’s a danger to the air we breathe, it has
resulted in more earthquakes, and it’s highly explosive. To top it all off,
it’s contributing to climate change. This should be a no-brainer. If we are
serious about clean air and drinking water, if we are serious about
combating climate change, the only safe and sane way to move forward is to
ban fracking nationwide.”

The new research shows that over the past decade, the combined emissions
from coal and gas power plants declined only 10.4 percent—far less than the
reductions claimed by other researchers and the gas industry. Moreover, if
emissions continued to decline at this pace, greenhouse gas emissions from
the power sector would not reach zero until 2100.

The new Food & Water Watch research is based on data from the Energy
Information Administration, an academic emissions inventory and a recent
Cornell University study. This model evaluates the lifecycle emissions of
electricity generation, including methane emissions from coal and natural
gas production, processing, transportation and end use. Largely as a result
of the fracking boom, the research finds that methane emissions from gas
produced for power plants have an even greater climate impact than the
CO2 emitted
at power plants.

Even if every coal plant was decommissioned by 2030 and replaced by
gas-powered electricity, greenhouse gas emissions would still continue to
rise. And if natural gas remains the dominant energy source through 2050,
annual greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector will be higher in the
coming decades than they are today.

The report also makes clear that focusing on the supposed benefits of
relying on gas for power generation obscures other problems. While the
industry touts the replacement of coal-fired power with gas, only about
one-third of the gas consumption goes to generating electricity. Narrowing
the focus to the power sector ignores the substantial climate consequences
of the remaining 65 percent of natural gas consumption, which includes
plastics production and providing heat in buildings.

The growing role of gas in the climate crisis remains a front-and-center
concern. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is 86 times more
potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. Methane is considered
responsible for about one-third of the total warming since the industrial
revolution, and atmospheric methane levels have been rising since 2007.

The report also documents the many ways that methane can leak at every
stage of the gas system, a serious emissions problem that is likely grossly
undercounted and cannot be regulated. And it points out that the growing
plans to export fracked gas by building massive new LNG terminals—a move
that is vital to rescuing the financially flailing fracking industry—will
also drive up methane emissions.
###
Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to
ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and
abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action
and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

-- 

--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sid-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sid-l/CACKppcxyoqBbzEzce39QUnOCwa_8kQAE2zaQ3S8oMUY_p4aQSw%40mail.gmail.com.

---
To unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>