The Natural Gas Debate Continues

The debate over natural gas continues.  What are the environmental implications and risks, and how abundant is it?  Well, that depends where you look and what you read.  To highlight this debate, Power Across Texas would like to share articles and studies released over the past few months:

In March, Cornell University professor Robert Howarth, released a study comparing natural gas emissions to those of high emitting coal.  You can read the research here, or read an April 11 New York Times article here.

Devon Energy countered in April, by refuting many of the Cornell study’s claims.  Devon Energy found substantial errors in the research methodology.  Read more here.

Also in April, Duke University published the study, “Methane Contamination of Drinking Water Accompanying Gas-well Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing.”  This research focused on the water contamination risks.  Read it here.

In May, Michael Levi,  Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations, discredited Howarth’s Cornell study citing evidence from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).  Read the NETL report here or read Levi’scomments here

In June, Kathleen White, former chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, wrote a piece in the National Review emphasizing the low risk, but high reward to fracking for natural gas.  She focused on the abundance of natural gas in the US and its low environmental impact.  Read her article here.