NOAA Methane Study from 2011 is Flawed – Final Answer
MDN tries to avoid “inside baseball” stories as much as possible—those stories that are highly technical and involve complex math and science. We avoid them not because they aren’t important—they are. But because readers often don’t have the time to study the issue properly to understand it. When possible, we try to interpret such stories and give you “the bottom line.” This is one of those stories.
In December 2011, the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR) published a paper by a number of authors associated with NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The paper, titled “Hydrocarbon emissions characterization in the Colorado Front Range – A pilot study,” took a close look at natural gas drilling and using some rather complex science, made the bombshell claim that a large amount of methane escapes into the atmosphere during the drilling process. In the parlance of scientists, the issue is called “fugitive emissions.” Those who buy the claims of manmade global warming say methane is a “potent” greenhouse gas—so if a lot of it escapes into the atmosphere, that’s a bad thing. It causes the globe to heat up.
Read More “NOAA Methane Study from 2011 is Flawed – Final Answer”
Two days ago the Federal Reserve released their bi-monthly survey of regional economic trends, called “the Beige Book.” One of the stars in the current edition of the Beige Book (full copy embedded below) is the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Shale drilling is mentioned prominently for Region III (Philadelphia) and Region IV (Cleveland). 
Yesterday, as expected, the heavily Democrat New York State Assembly passed a bill (103 to 40) that would ban fracking in the state for yet another two years—even though fracking has already been banned for nearly five years (a copy of the bill as passed is embedded below). We’re not quite sure what another two years will tell us we don’t already know after five—but that’s Democrat jihadists for you. Harsh word there—jihad—but it was aptly used on the floor of the Assembly by a Republican assemblyman to describe what’s really going on in New York—and we concur.
Is New York doomed when it comes to the issue of fracking? Maybe. In addition to Cuomo being the ditherer-in-chief and failing to lead on the issue of fracking, an important group of state senators—the Independent Democrat Conference (they share control of the Senate with Republicans)—yesterday proposed a two-year further delay in fracking. Previously the state Assembly, which is heavily Democrat and is led by the nefarious Sheldon Silver, has pushed legislation to kill fracking. Sliver is supposed to be make yet another announcement today (Wednesday) along those lines.