Massive California Gas Leak: Biggest Environmental Disaster Since BP Oil Spill


Gas Leak Causing Concerns

The leak is causing many residents from the area to pack up and leave, which will mean a big bill to the well owner, with headaches and difficulty breathing being the primary complaints. At least two schools have also relocated for the duration, so the problem will include lost revenue, health claims, and actual relocation costs.

A report by the Environmental Defense Fund, which is tracking the amount of gas leaked in real time indicated the following:

Methane—the main component of natural gas—is a powerful short-term climate forcer, with over 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it is released. Methane is estimated to be leaking out of the Aliso Canyon site at a rate of about 62 million standard cubic feet, per day. That’s the same short-term greenhouse gas impact as the emissions from 7 million cars.

A spokesperson for California’s Air Resources Board told Mashable the leak is dumping the equivalent of “eight or nine coal plants” worth of methane into our already fragile climate.

While the leak is actually invisible, an infrared video shows a giant plume of gas spreading into the foothills, which may lead to additional resources being brought to help with the problem. The larger problem is the likelihood that legislators will use this event to add to the already overwhelming burden of laws and prohibitions that making it more and more difficult to produce hydrocarbon energy. Is this an unfortunate accident? Of course it is. Will lefty legislators turn it into yet another way to attack big energy and burden the pocketbooks of residents of the state? Absolutely, so folks living in California better get ready, because the number of new laws that will result from this leak will absolutely blow your mind! It is how the pols react to every event, with a law to decrease your freedom and take more money out of your wallet.

 

A California Gas Leak Is the Biggest Environmental Disaster Since the BP Oil Spill

 

Source: gizmodo.com



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