by Joe Massaro
A recent letter to the editor by Diana Pedi titled, Climate Change Happens in The Bronx Too took aim at fracking even though it’s thanks to fracking and the increased use of natural gas that the U.S. has significantly lowered greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Pedi, fracking is to blame for climate change because, “fracking releases methane.” That claim has been directly contradicted by the EPA, which just released data from its annual Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. EPA found that oil and gas producers reduced emissions of methane 12 percent from 2011 to 2013, and methane emissions from fracking specifically decreased by an amazing 73 percent. If EPA data isn’t enough, a study by the University of Texas and the Environmental Defense Fund, which looked directly at measurements of methane from 190 well pads, found very low emission rates.
It’s especially interesting to hear someone from the Bronx speak of health issues when we know that because of fracking in the Marcellus shale New Yorkers – specifically those living in the city – are breathing the cleanest air in 50 years. As former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last year, “The cleaner air enjoyed by New Yorkers today is preventing 800 deaths 2,000 emergency room visits and hospitalizations from lung and cardiovascular diseases annually.”
In the words of EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, “Responsible development of natural gas is an important part of our work to curb climate change.”
Editor’s Note: Joe Massaro is a New York resident, currently working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a spokesman for Energy in Depth, an educational outreach arm for the IPAA (Independent Petroleum Association of America).
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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The anti-fracking crowd has been informed by ‘FrackNation’, global warming/cooling/climate change zealots and other sources of mis-information and outright propaganda.The new ‘greens’ are the old reds. Basically communism: no growth, government control, anti capitalism, anti business, anti free market. We will all be riding the bikes the Chinese trade in for western cars, and wearing beanie-copters. You can breathe, but don’t exhale. CO2 is a pollutant.So ridiculous- but they have sold so many on ideas that defy logic and common sense. The Emperor’s New Clothes, but in the real world it’s no fairytale, it’s a tragedy.
The key phrase here is “RESPONSIBLE development of natural gas.” There is definitely more work to be done in reducing climate-harming methane emissions from natural gas production. We’ve made great strides in showing the business and environmental cases for detecting and reducing methane emissions, but we need more public support for policy as well. http://www.edf.org/blog/2014/10/16/investors-worth-300b-call-national-methane-rules-heres-why