Natural gas and wood are replacing coal as the biggest pollutants
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As coal plants across the United States shutter and stop pouring harmful pollutants into the air, the health effects from all those emissions have eased, saving thousands of lives. But less pollution from coal doesn’t mean all pollution has disappeared, and now fuel sources besides coal are having a bigger impact on our health. Across the country, Harvard researchers found, the negative health impacts from burning natural gas, biomass, and wood are beginning to outweigh those from burning coal.
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In the last few decades, electricity generation has moved away from coal toward other, more sustainable options and most of the research on this transition has focused on what this means for greenhouse gas emissions, says Jonathan Buonocore, a research scientist at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harv
Inactive oil wells are a big source of methane emissions
Uncapped oil wells could be leaking millions of kilograms of methane into the atmosphere and surface water each year.
Even when you’re done with an oil well, you’re not really done with it. Idle wells could still be leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, according to a new study carried out on oil wells in Texas.
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Amy Townsend-Small, an associate professor of geology and geography in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences, has been studying leaky oil wells for a few years, finding that some of them are still leaking methane years after the activity has been shut down. But this is the first time she was granted access to study wells on private land.
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The Senate on Wednesday took an important step forward on limiting emissions and meeting its commitments to curb global warming by voting to limit the unbridled release of methane molecules, often a byproduct of natural gas production, into the atmosphere.
The 52-42 vote reinstates the Oil and Natural Gas New Source Performance Standards, a handful of Obama-era regulations on methane emissions rolled back by former President Donald Trump in August 2020. The measure drew support from every Senate Democrat, as well as Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), who has opposed GOP efforts to deregulate methane emissions in the past; Lindsey Graham (R-SC); and Rob Portman (R-OH). The rule is expected to be taken up and passed by the House of Representatives in May.