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Last summer as oil and gas industry groups lobbied to change federal restrictions on methane leaks, a major contributor to climate change, they claimed that companies had emissions under control. However, in a secret recording of a discussion last year by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, participants expressed concern about the amount of natural gas flared off, and discussed how to appear more environmentally friendly.
One participant said, "We’re just flaring a tremendous amount of gas... this pesky natural gas, the value of it is very minimal," and raised concerns that flaring represented a "huge, huge threat" to industry efforts to portray natural gas as a climate-friendly energy source. That same petroleum council president has publicly spoken against methane regulations and said that the industry produced "valuable energy resources in a responsible manner."
Burned natural gas emits about half the amount of greenhouse gases as coal; but the flaring of natural gas produces large amounts of climate-warming emissions without creating any usable energy. Researchers have also warned that drilling operations have large methane leaks, and methane emissions are shown to be far higher than previously estimated. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, trapping more than 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over the short term.
The revelations of the oil industry's private views on climate change and emissions come at a time when the American West is in climate distress as drought, record-setting wildfires, and extreme weather behavior ramp up, all of which scientists say are linked to climate change.
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Young voters, female voters, Hispanic voters, really every sector except for older conservative male voters. Their No. 1 issue when it comes to our industry is always going to be environmental stewardship, and concerns about what we’re doing with the environment."
