July 1, 2017
By David Jenkins
One thing that Pennsylvanians (click here) of any political stripe should agree on is that waste is a bad thing. Whether we are talking about money, time, or energy, the prudent--and conservative--approach is always to minimize waste.
This is why Gov. Tom Wolf and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were right to launch a concerted strategy last year to reduce natural gas waste and the resulting methane emissions.
The plan will help reduce leaks and emissions from natural gas well sites, processing facilities, compressor stations and along pipelines.
These leaks harm public health as they waste a valuable natural resource and release pollutants into our air.
If successful, Wolf's plan would show that Pennsylvania is a truly a leader in waste reduction by implementing responsible oil and gas practices....... The oil and gas industry has stepped up its political efforts to slow or block the state plan, just as its methane emissions are up a whopping 28 percent.
In one such effort, state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Allegheny, is trying to tie the hands of Pennsylvania with legislation barring Pennsylvania from adopting standards stronger than whatever was decided in Washington....
Pennsylvania should be congratulated for taking on the challenge to find ways to END METHANE POLLUTION. Methane pollution leaked into Earth's troposphere is dangerous to life. It has extremely low heating and cooling temperatures and an accumulation of 5% to 15% of any air mass causes an explosion.
Methane also kills. In enough of a concentration it replaces oxygen on the blood of people. It isn't the methane in particular that explodes into death of people, it is the anoxia (lack of oxygen) that kills.
Methane like lead replace benevolent molecules and compounds important to the human body with toxic chemicals BECAUSE they replace those benevolent molecules and chemicals. In the case of lead, it replaces iron. In the case of methane it replaces oxygen.
