Hidden Menace: Massive methane leaks speed up climate change

LENORAH, Texas (AP) — New aerial surveys show that massive amounts of methane are venting into the atmosphere from oil and gas operations across the Permian Basin. The emissions endanger U.S. targets for curbing climate change. Methane’s earth-warming power is some 83 times stronger than the carbon dioxide that comes from car tailpipes and power plant smokestacks. Congress and the EPA have largely failed to regulate the invisible gas. That leaves it up to oil and gas producers to cut methane emissions on their own, but in some cases they are the very companies who have been fighting regulations. An Associated Press investigation shows hundreds of sites spewing the gas over and over again.