Study Undermines EPA, Blames Rising Methane Levels on Farming, Not Fracking

by Valerie Richardson (The Washington Times) A newly released international study finds that farming, not fracking, is the likely culprit behind rising global methane levels, undermining the Obama administration’s crackdown on methane from oil-and-gas production in the name of climate change.

The research published Friday in the journal Science came a day after President Obama unveiled a pact aimed at cutting methane emissions from oil-and-gas producers by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025.

Hinrich Schaefer, an atmospheric scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Wellington, New Zealand, and the lead author of the research team, called the results “a real surprise.”

“That was a real surprise, because at that time the US started fracking and we also know that the economy in Asia picked up again, and coal mining increased. However, that is not reflected in the atmosphere,” Mr. Schaefer told the website Phys.org.

“Our data indicate that the source of the increase was methane produced by bacteria, of which the most likely sources are natural, such as wetlands or agricultural, for example from rice paddies or livestock,” Mr. Schaefer said.

The “most probably causes” of the methane spike are “either food production or climate-sensitive natural emissions,” the study concluded. READ MORE Abstract (Science Magazine)