Drexel University researchers: Methane emissions rising in PA's Marcellus Shale region

On May 19, a team of researchers from Drexel University in Philadelphia released findings of a two-month mobile air quality monitoring campaign in the southwest and northeast parts of Pennsylvania where shale gas drilling is taking place. Among the study's more significant findings is that methane emissions were higher than reported in previous studies.

The Drexel team employed a mobile laboratory with sampling instrumentation affixed to the outside and computers inside. They obtained measurements downwind of each drilling region as they did not have direct access to the sites. Measurements were obtained around well pads and compressor stations.

Photo credit: WCN 24/7 via Flickr Creative Commons

This study adds to the growing body of evidence that methane, a potent greenhouse gas with warming potential 84 times greater than carbon in the first 20 years after its release, is leaking into the atmosphere at alarming rates. As temperatures rise, we experience the accelerated formation of ground-level ozone, or smog, that leads to increased asthma attacks and lung and heart disease. Absent action, the specter of increased methane emissions could quickly undo any perceived benefits of a coal-to-gas switch.

Pennsylvania must move quickly to directly regulate methane emissions from natural gas operations. The Drexel study once again makes clear that voluntary efforts aren't working. The time to act is now.

Elaine Labalme is Strategic Campaigns Director for PennFuture and is based in Pittsburgh. She tweets @NewGirlInTown.

As the wind blows

Good news for clean air: On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Transport Rule. The rule requires that 28 states, which contribute significantly to downwind non-attainment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), reduce their emissions in accordance with economic feasibility, as determined by the EPA. 

The decision is a strong statement in favor of clean air and human health and against unmitigated air pollution.

For decades, as outlined in the SCOTUSblog, the EPA has struggled to effectively implement the “good neighbor policy” first issued in 1977, and updated in 1990, which seeks to require states to manage their own pollution rather than passing it along to others.  

The crux of the problem is that air pollution doesn't abide by political boundaries. Nor do airborne particles shift uniformly across borders. Instead, prevailing winds flow from west to east in the U.S. For this reason, many eastern states contend with dangerous air pollution blown in from neighboring power plants, along with the particles and ozone generated from their own sources. Particle pollution and ozone are directly linked to increased rates of asthma and other cardiovascular health problems, in addition to climate change.  

Because states can’t regulate sources outside of their boundaries, federal level coordination is necessary in order to ensure that states that rely primarily on coal fired power plants (the dirtiest source of energy available) don't sit back and enjoy artificially cheap power by transferring the health and clean-up costs to citizens and governments downwind.

Curious to know where Pennsylvania stands? The Tribune outlined our state's position back in 2013: Squarely in the middle.

Now that you've made it to here, reward yourself by enjoying this mesmerizing wind map, which may or may not oblige me by illustrating the prevailing wind. 

Valessa Souter-Kline is PennFuture's western Pennsylvania outreach coordinator and is based in Pittsburgh. She tweets at @ValessaSK.