When you think about climate change, or about making a comment on the EPA methane rule weakening, remember that EPA underestimates the amount of methane leaking from natural gas production by 65%. Yes that’s right, the amount of methane leaking is more than 50% greater than what EPA reports.
EPA estimated in 2015 that about 1.4% of methane from wells and other infrastructure leak. A study by the Environmental Defense Fund from 2018 found that it is really about 2.3%, about 65% more than EPA estimates. They estimate that the gas industry is losing about $2 billion in fuel every year.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-methane/us-oil-gas-system-methane-leaks-larger-than-epa-estimates-study-idUSKBN1JH2TP
Because methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and because methane is a precursor for ozone formation, this is really bad for our health. We have more ozone now, which means more asthma attacks, COPD exacerbations, and more, and we are having more climate change effects (hurricanes, forest fires, heatwaves, droughts and floods).
