The Hill: EPA Chief Pushes Economic Case of Capturing Methane

Over the past few years, Trillium has filed or co-filed shareholder proposals with natural gas companies asking them to report on measuring, mitigating, setting reduction targets, and disclosing methane emissions.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is emitted across the value chain during production, processing, transmission, storage, and distribution. It is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), with 86 times the climate impact of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.  Emissions have not been tightly regulated, measured, monitored, mitigated, or disclosed, creating a risk to industry, operators, and environment alike.
As shareholders, Trillium has also made the argument that methane leakage has a direct economic impact as lost gas is not available for sale, whereas natural gas captured through control processes can be sold in the market, generating positive returns.
On September 2, 2014, The Hill published a story about how the issue of fugitive methane emissions has gotten the attention of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Laura Barron-Lopez writes:
“Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy on Tuesday stressed the need for industry to tamp down on methane leaks and flaring.
While taking steps to capture methane would help combat climate change, it would also make companies more profitable, McCarthy argued at an energy conference. ‘It’s not wasted byproduct, it is product that is being wasted,’ McCarthy said at the Barclays 2014 energy conference on Tuesday.
‘The less methane that is leaked and gets away from you, the more profitable your business is.’
‘This makes good economic sense and is essential if we want to get serious about climate change,’ McCarthy said…”
You can read the entire article here.