My Climate Change News

In the last several years, the fossil fuel industry has tried to paint itself as being on a smooth path toward a clean energy future. Its members are (allegedly) standing by, ready to join the fight for the planet as invaluable partners in building a better tomorrow. “Our industry is essential to supplying energy that makes life modern, healthier and better,” the American Petroleum Institute wrote recently in its Climate Action Framework, “while doing so in ways that tackle the climate challenge.”

But reading through the document and other industry talking points gives the impression that “natural” gas, primarily made of methane, is a planetary savior. “The continued availability of low-cost U.S. natural gas combined with a strong export policy - especially as it pertains to liquefied natural gas (LNG) - presents an opportunity to achieve continued success in emissions reductions around the world,” the API added.

A report out this week from the United Nations Environment Program and the Climate & Clean Air Coalition begs to disagree. The “Global Methane Assessment” finds that the heat-trapping gas endemic to gas supply chains needs to decline rapidly. Focusing solely on decarbonization targets, authors note, “will only achieve about 30 percent of the methane reductions needed over the next 30 years.” Cutting methane emissions 45 percent before 2030 can avoid 0.3 degrees Celsius of global warming by the 2040s, and avoid 255,000 premature deaths. And “without relying on future massive-scale deployment of unproven carbon removal technologies, expansion of natural gas infrastructure and usage is incompatible with keeping warming to 1.5° C.”

Methane is shorter-lived than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but as much as 86 times as potent a warming agent over the 20-year period after it’s emitted. It’s as much as 34 times more potent over 100 years. And despite suggestions to the contrary, it’s not planet-friendly when it’s burned, either; used as...