Study Finds EPA Underestimates Methane Emissions

The Trump administration is revving up to roll back regulations cutting methane emissions from oil and gas wells by freezing fuel-efficiency standards and deregulating Obama-era emission laws.

Environmentalists have noted the discrepancy between how the EPA estimates methane emissions and what other studies have estimated. Some approximations put EPA estimates 60 percent lower than what they should be. A new study that accounts for methane emission produced during off-hour operations shows just how high methane counts can climb to when that production is taken into account.

Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas, causing a global warming effect 80 times greater than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years of its release.