The creature in the sky
Got sucked in a hole
Now there's a hole in the sky
And the ground's not cold
And if the ground's not cold
Everything is gonna burn
We'll all take turns, I'll get mine too
WHY IS THIS SONG RELEVANT?
Timothy Puko (Aug. 29, 2019). Energy Companies Set to Get Reprieve on Methane Rules. The Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/energy-companies-set-to-get-reprieve-on-methane-rules-11567051201Plan to end Obama-era regulations is likely to draw protests from environmental groups.Methane is about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping the earth’s heat, according to estimates used by the EPA. A natural-gas flare with a drilling rig in background, in Texas.
BACKGROUND
Rebecca Elliott of the Wall Street Journal has been chronicling the increase in natural gas "flaring" in Texas: from 407 million cubic feet of gas a day in her December 2018 article to 740 million in her recently July 2019 article:
Rebecca Elliott July 17, 2019 Texas Showdown Flares Up Over Natural-Gas Waste. The Wal Street Journal,https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-showdown-flares-up-over-natural-gas-waste-11563361201...As shale companies turned America into the world’s top oil producer, they unlocked massive quantities of natural gas as a byproduct and Texas has allowed them to freely burn off vast volumes as area pipelines fill up. The process is known as flaring....In the region’s two largest oil basins, the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford, operators flared or vented—where gas is released without being burned—into the atmosphere an average of about 740 million cubic feet of gas a day during the first quarter, according to public data compiled by energy analytics firm Rystad Energy....equivalent to that of nearly five million cars driving for a day....
Rebecca Elliott (2018, December 27). In Booming Oil Field, Natural Gas Can Be Free. The Wall Street Journal, https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-booming-oilfield-natural-gas-can-be-free-11545906601?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2One option for Permian operators with too much gas is to light it on fire, a practice known as flaring. Flaring levels reached record highs in the Permian last quarter, when companies burned an average of 407 million cubic feet a day, according to analysis of public data compiled by Rystad Energy, an energy consulting firm.... equivalent to the daily exhaust emitted by about 2.7 million cars, according to estimates from the World Bank and Environmental Protection Agency.
This is non-sustainable. It's not just that our energy infrastructures are non-sustainable. The way we operate within them is just as problematic:
Suzanne Goldenberg (2013, November 20) Just 90 companies caused two-thirds of man-made global warming emissions. The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/20/90-companies-man-made-global-warming-emissions-climate-changeChevron, Exxon and BP among companies most responsible for climate change since dawn of industrial age, figures showhe climate crisis of the 21st century has been caused largely by just 90 companies, which between them produced nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions generated since the dawning of the industrial age, new research suggests.The companies range from investor-owned firms – household names such as Chevron, Exxon and BP – to state-owned and government-run firms.The analysis, which was welcomed by the former vice-president Al Gore as a "crucial step forward" found that the vast majority of the firms were in the business of producing oil, gas or coal, found the analysis, which has been published in the journal Climatic Change.
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