Associated Press, May 13, 2013
The Environmental Protection Agency has dramatically lowered its estimate of how much of a potent heat-trapping gas leaks during natural gas production, in a shift with major implications for a debate that has divided environmentalists.
Oil and gas drilling companies had pushed for the change, but there have been differing scientific estimates of the amount of methane that leaks from wells, pipelines and other facilities during production and delivery. Methane is the main component of natural gas.
The new EPA data is "kind of an earthquake" in the debate over drilling, said Michael Shellenberger, the president of the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental group based in Oakland, Calif. "This is great news for anybody concerned about the climate and strong proof that existing technologies can be deployed to reduce methane leaks."...To Read More....
My Take - To answer the question, "Does the recent boom help, or hurt, the fight against climate change?", the answer is easy. It has no impact what-so-ever. Methane, CO2 or any other gas they hoot and holler about has nothing to do with global warming, cooling or any other greenie claptrap they spout. As for the gas that may be leaking out of gas wells, either shallow well or deep wells such as fracking wells, that's only important because those leaks are lost dollars.
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