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Natural gas was once touted as a cleaner energy technology, but we now know that it has an outsized impact on global warming. Organizations and lawmakers in the U.S. and across the globe are pushing producers to clean up their act.
Vanessa Lynch didn’t know there were natural gas wells in her western Pennsylvania town until an outreach worker from the Moms Clean Air Force told her.
A national group on a mission to protect kids from air pollution and climate change, Moms Clean Air Force had been canvassing Vanessa’s neighborhood, informing people about the new well in their community, which many residents didn’t know about, Vanessa says.
“The well pad is located near homes, a daycare center, assisted living facility, a park where my kids played softball and soccer throughout their childhood,” Lynch says. “And that's really where I started to get concerned about methane and the volatile organic compounds that are released.”
The more she learned about the well, the more concerned she got. “What we know is air pollution from the oil and gas industry can cause respiratory diseases, asthma attacks, reproductive problems, cancer, and clearly methane contributes to climate change, which further harms health,” she says. “So, for families like mine, living on the front lines of this conversation, it becomes concerning.”
Soon after that visit, Vanessa joined Moms Clean Air Force, becoming the Pennsylvania campaign coordinator. Together with local elected officials, she helped to create more protective rules that put oil and gas production farther away from communities.
A Bridge Fuel?
As fuels go, natural gas has much to recommend it. It’s inexpensive, abundant, and much less polluting than coal or oil, both in terms of CO2 emissions and other air pollutants. These positives have led the natural gas industry to label it a “bridge fuel” that will let us clean up the air while keeping the lights on.
The plusses have also led to a boom in natural gas production and use in the United States in the past 20 years. Meanwhile, coal production has fallen by about half, and coal use has fallen by two-thirds. This switch has resulted in a reduction of about 40% in greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation.
But natural gas is far from harmless. It’s odorless and colorless, and it leaks out of pipes at every step from the wellhead to your stove. And in addition to being a local air pollutant, when it leaks into the atmosphere, it is much more effective at trapping heat than CO2. Natural gas is about 95% methane, and MIT estimates that methane is somewhere between 28 and 100 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (depending on the time frame).
NASA figures that methane emissions account for about 20 to 30% of global warming. As ever more sophisticated methane detection technologies come on line, we’re learning more about the scale of the problem, and nonprofits and governments are waking up and taking action.
Taking Action
In Lynch’s part of Pennsylvania, where the oil industry was born, Moms Clean Air Force is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to find abandoned or “orphan” oil and gas wells that leak methane. They are also fighting for tougher state rules regarding leak detection and repair for active oil and gas wells.
“With the federal uncertainty that is currently going on, we know that state plans are going to be increasingly important, and so the safeguards that Pennsylvania chooses to put in today are the ones that protect frontline families like mine,” Lynch says.
Air pollution from the oil and gas industry can cause respiratory diseases, asthma attacks, reproductive problems, cancer, and clearly methane contributes to climate change, which further harms health. So, for families like mine, living on the front lines of this conversation, it becomes concerning.
– Vanessa Lynch, Pennsylvania Campaign Coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force
EDF is a major player in the fight against methane. Their work began in 2012, when EDF researchers realized that, in the midst of a natural gas boom, no one actually knew how much methane was escaping from oil and gas wells. Over the next half-decade, EDF funded 16 studies that measured methane emissions from hand-held sensors, a Google Earth vehicle, specially outfitted airplanes, and specifically designed satellites. They found that emissions were 60% greater than EPA estimates: enough natural gas was leaking to fuel 10 million homes for a year, $2 billion worth of gas.
“There are leaks taking place at the production sites and along the supply chain before combustion. And those leaks can be stopped,” says Ben Webster, the director of policy for MiQ, a nonprofit that works with gas producers to reduce methane leaks. “When one thinks about increasing power demands within the U.S. for data centers, for example, as well as development of our communities and populations overseas, which will require more and more energy, we are going to see, I think, more natural gas production and usage, which only underscores the importance of eliminating those leaks.”
Webster notes that plugging gas leaks may be currently the most cost-effective climate action of all. “Methane abatement from the oil and gas sector is often referred to as the lowest-hanging fruit among all the climate and greenhouse gas abatement activities,” he says. “We'll get the biggest bang for the buck by reducing leaks from oil and gas operations.”
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that methane leaks cost the industry $30 billion annually. In some places, up to 80% of methane leaks could be stopped at a cost less than what the escaped gas would sell for. Given the money they can save, many gas companies are getting on board.
“The more gas that is stopped from leaking, the more gas that's in the pipeline, which means more gas can be sold by the operator,” Webster says. “So on both fronts in terms of the mitigation activities or the abatement activities, as well as increasing supply, this is kind of a win-win.”
MiQ also certifies natural gas production using strict standards and professional third-party auditors, allowing buyers to know they are getting the cleanest natural gas. They now certify 20% of U.S. production, working with firms like BP and ExxonMobil.
With certified natural gas, Webster says, the closest analogy may be the fruit and vegetable sector, where even 20 years ago, there was no organic labeling. “Now there's organic labeling, and an agricultural producer who is engaging in certain types of practices can receive the organic label, enabling them to engage in that market and ideally take a greater slice of market share,” he says.
Plugging gas leaks may be currently the most cost-effective climate action of all. ‘Methane abatement from the oil and gas sector is often referred to as the lowest-hanging fruit among all the climate and greenhouse gas abatement activities.'
– Ben Webster, director of policy for MiQ, a nonprofit that works with gas producers to reduce methane leaks
Many companies that buy natural gas have made public commitments to work toward net-zero or reduce their greenhouse gas or climate footprints, Webster says, and buying certified lower-carbon gas can help those companies to achieve those commitments.
“In some cases, there's employee pressure, there may be consumer pressure,” he says. “There may also be investor pressure. So there are a variety of different levers that are being applied to that demand side, incentivizing companies or utilities to buy lower-emissions natural gas.”
A Global Effort
But it’s not just voluntary action. EDF, Moms Clean Air Force, and other groups press for government restrictions, and they’re making an impact. Several U.S. states, the U.S. federal government, and China have passed regulations on methane leaks in the past decade.
The biggest win was in the European Union: In 2023, the bloc passed regulations that apply not only to EU natural gas producers, but also to countries that want to import gas into the EU. Japan and South Korea, both big importers of liquified natural gas, have pledged to do the same.
As natural gas consumption globally continues to rise, Webster emphasizes that efforts to curb methane emissions are in their infancy. But they are gaining momentum, he says.
“Methane … really is one of the most important levers that we can pull to make an impact right away on the changing climate,” Lynch says. “We had severe storms in Pennsylvania, and flooding, and huge impacts from our changing climate and the frequency and intensity of storms. And I think we've seen across the country a lot of very unusual, extreme weather events and heat domes and things that people would not normally expect. And the more we can do to prevent the trajectory we're on, the better, for sure.”
What You Can Do
If you want to keep the pressure on fossil fuel companies, join a group like Moms Clean Air Force. Also make sure that any investments you have are with socially responsible investment firms that hold polluters accountable. Investors have significant influence over the actions of corporations.
Five Key Takeaways
- The methane that makes up over 95% of natural gas is a potent greenhouse pollutant, accounting for 20-30% of global warming
- Natural gas leaks happen at every step of the distribution system, from the well to your stove
- Scientists are just now getting a handle on how big a problem methane emissions are
- Plugging gas leaks is one of the most effective, and cost-effective, solutions to climate change
- There are groups you can support working on this important issue:
- Moms Clean Air Force
- Environmental Defense Fund
- RMI (partner in MiQ, advocates for clean energy)
