EPA underestimates methane emissions
Rising amounts of greenhouse gas missed by environmental agency’s methods
MISSING METHANE Environmental Protection Agency reports underestimate U.S. methane emissions, new studies show. That discrepancy could stem from a small number of methane sources such as leaky natural gas wells that release a disproportionate amount of the greenhouse gas.
Daniel Foster/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a methane problem — and that could misinform the country’s carbon-cutting plans. Recent studies suggest that the agency’s reports fail to capture the full scope of U.S. methane emissions, including “super emitters” that contribute a disproportionate share of methane release. Those EPA reports influence the country’s actions to combat climate change and the regulation of methane-producing industries such as agriculture and natural gas production.
With EPA’s next annual methane report due to be published by April 15, early signs suggest that the agency is taking steps to fix the methane mismatch. A preliminary draft of the report revises the agency’s methane calculations for 2013 — the most recent year reported — upward by about 27 percent for the natural gas and
