skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, July 26, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

Report: In Ohio, much industry-produced methane goes to waste

play audio
Play

Monday, November 13, 2023   

Ohio oil and gas companies wasted $93 million worth of natural gas in 2019, enough to meet the yearly energy demands of the state's most populous cities, according to a new analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund.

Sarah Spence, executive director of the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum, said tighter state regulations and regular inspections would prevent methane -- the main component of natural gas and a major contributor to global warming -- from being leaked, vented or flared from wells, or from pipes during the transportation process.

"It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Spence pointed out. "When we are in a situation where we are finding more and more ways to use energy, that we're letting an energy source just kind of escape out into the atmosphere."

According to the analysis, the methane wasted from Ohio's more than 4,400 active wells translated into nearly $1.4 million in lost tax and royalty revenue to the state of Ohio in 2019 alone. Spence added the lost funding would otherwise have supported policies and programs residents rely on for public health and safety.

She noted the Environmental Protection Agency is currently in the process of establishing federal rules aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas facilities nationwide.

"We're expecting them to be finalized later this fall," Spence emphasized. "They have gone through several public comment periods, testimony. They are going back and looking through all of those things to see if there are tweaks or changes that need to be made to the rules."

Methane mitigation is emerging as a fast-growing industry. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, the sector already has roughly a dozen companies across Ohio, including seven company headquarters, six manufacturing facilities and five service firm locations to help oil and gas well operators reduce leaking.



get more stories like this via email
more stories
According to the Tax Policy Center, for higher-income earners, sales taxes consume a lower share of their income than for other households. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details …


play sound

Traveling around rural Minnesota can be difficult but in more than half the state, nonprofit transit systems are helping people get where they need …

Social Issues

play sound

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference. The Biden administration has canceled more …


Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to codify the Chevron Deference into law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent Supreme Court rulings on air pollution are affecting Virginia and the nation. Climate advocates said the court overstepped its bounds in …

Health and Wellness

play sound

World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the …

The Gender Shades project revealed facial recognition performed poorest for darker-skinned women, and performed best for lighter-skinned men. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Columbia County, New York, is implementing new facial recognition and privacy policies, following new upgrades to the county's surveillance cameras…

Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 …

Social Issues

play sound

As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021