Cornell University Professors Robert Howarth and Anthony Ingraffea made waves in April 2011 when they unveiled what is now known simply as the “Cornell Study.”
Published in a peer-reviewed letter in the academic journal Climatic Change Letters, the study revealed that, contrary to the never-ending mythology promulgated by the gas industry, unconventional (“natural”) gas, procured via the infamous hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process, likely emits more greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere during its life cycle than does coal. DeSmogBlog documented the in-depth details of the Cornell Study in our report, “Fracking the Future: How Unconventional Gas Threatens our Water, Health, and Climate.”
Since the report was published, the Cornell Study has receieved serioius backlash from the gas industry, in particular from Energy in Depth, the industry’s go-to front defensive linebackers on all things fracking related. DeSmogBlog revealed earlier this year that Energy in Depth is an industry front group created by many of the largest oil and gas companies, contrary to its preferred “mom and pop” image.
Dr. Anthony Ingraffea wrote a must-read piece this week for CBC News, “Does the natural gas industry need a new messenger?“
In his article, Dr. Ingraffea discusses and debunks many key gas industry myths, which he explained “always have at least a kernel of truth, but you have to listen to the whole story, carefully, not just the kernel.”
“With decades of geopolitical influence and billions of dollars on the table, it is not surprising that the gas industry has perpetuated…myths to keep the public in the dark, regulators at bay, and the wells flowing,” Ingraffea writes.
Let’s review four of the myths exploded by Dr. Ingraffea:
Myth One: “Fracking is a 60-year-old, safe, well proven technology”
Dr. Ingraffea writes:
Yes, fracking is 60 years old. But using this shorthand obscures the truth that what’s at issue here isn’t really just fracking. It’s the entire process of coaxing gas from shale using high-volume, slickwater fracking with long laterals from clustered, multi-well pads.
Myth Two: “Fluid migration from faulty wells is rare”
Ingraffea dismantles this one:
Fluid migration is not rare. For example, industry researchers Watson and Bachu, in a Society of Petroleum Engineers paper in 2009, examined 352,000 Canadian wells and found sustained casing pressure and gas migration…Most recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found benzene, methane and chemicals in water-monitoring wells in Pavilion, Wyoming…
Myth Three: “The use of clustered, multi-well drilling pads reduces surface impacts”
Ingraffea:
Such pad sites are large and growing, up to 10 acres or more. Newer sites, in Canada, are bigger than 50 acres, and each will leave behind clusters of wellheads and holding tanks for decades.
Cluster drilling facilitates and prolongs intense industrialization and leaves a larger, more concentrated, and very long-term footprint, not a smaller and shorter one.
Myth Four: “Natural gas is a ‘clean’ fossil fuel”
This one would be laughable if so many people did not believe it. As the old adage goes, “A lie can travel halfway ’round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
Ingraffea on this whopper:
NASA climate scientist Drew Shindell’s work, published in the prestigious journal, Science, shows that methane – natural gas – is 105 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a global warming contributor over a 20-year time horizon, and 33 times more powerful over a century.
He proceeds to explain that methane gas is prone to leakage, which is not taken into account when proponents tout gas as a “clean” source of energy:
Leaks happen routinely during regular drilling, fracking and flowback operations, liquid unloading, processing, and along pipelines and at storage facilities.
The rate of leakage is anywhere from 3.6 per cent to 7.9 per cent of the lifetime of production of a shale gas well, which means from three to 200 per cent greater leakage rate than from conventional gas wells.
Exposing Other Mythology, Making a Plea For Truth
Dr. Ingraffea also discusses other myths the gas industry relies upon on a daily basis, including “jobs created,” “gas for energy independence,” gas as a “bridge fuel” toward renewable energy, among others. All of these lies and misdirections have been debunked on multiple occasions, by numerous sources.
Concluding where he began his article, Ingraffea makes a plea to his readers: “keep asking questions, dig for the truth, and you’ll get the whole story.”
