LA's Gas Leak

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knight1fox3

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So WTH is going on with this?  The BP disaster was made so public, how is this not gaining similar attention?

http://gizmodo.com/las-gas-leak-disaster-is-a-bigger-problem-than-you-real-1750035270?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

One of the worst environmental disasters of the decade is currently underway in a quiet community 25 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Putrid, methane-rich natural gas has been spewing into the air at an estimated rate of nearly 1,300 metric tons per day for over two months. Experts are calling it the climate version of the BP oil spill, and the leak isn’t going to be contained anytime soon.

Natural gas is often touted as a cleaner energy source than oil or coal, because of the lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning it. But as this disaster highlights, there are insidious risk to natural gas production. Coupled with weak regulation, they can make this energy source as dirty as the fossil fuels it’s meant to replace.

“The science is crystal clear: if you allow the methane to leak, you can wipe out its climate benefits,” Tim O’Connor, director of the Environmental Defense Fund’s Oil and Gas Program in California told Gizmodo.

In fact, everything about the leak is eerily reminiscent of the oil spills that have blackened oceans and beaches for over a century. These parallels underscore a hard truth: we need to transition off carbon-based fuels entirely to fix our planet.

Like 7 Million Cars

On October 23rd, a natural gas leak erupted at a storage well beneath the community of Porter Ranch. The well stores gas carried by pipelines from extraction operations hundreds of miles away in Texas, the Midwest, and the Rocky Mountains
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Ladies & Gentlemen,

    One of my employer's competitors is on that job.  Drilling a relief well is a long process.

 
Its LA, so you probably cant tell the difference with their normal amount of "air quality"

 
When recreational beaches are threatened, it's an "in your face" problem.  When it involves climate change, half the country cries blasphemy as they refill their diesel trucks.

 
we wont live long enough to see it, but when the earth gets tired of us, she will kill us all off and start a new and all will be okay..

 
Interestingly, now this is impacting the ability of California to meet peak electric demand this summer.  Since California shut down the San Onofre nuclear plant recently, they only have one nuclear plant and almost zero coal fired capacity. So they end up relying heavily on natural gas for producing electricity, and now with this major gas storage field out of the picture they may have a hard time sourcing enough gas to meet demand.  FERC approved some temporary changes to CAISO's tariff so I'd expect California electric rates to increase this summer as a result.

 

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