Surviving Capitalism (Not) : New Study Shows Total North American Methane Leaks Far Worse than EPA Estimates

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, February 15, 2014

New Study Shows Total North American Methane Leaks Far Worse than EPA Estimates

Click here to access article by Sharon Kelly from DeSmogBlog.

Far more natural gas is leaking into the atmosphere nationwide than the Environmental Protection Agency currently estimates, researchers concluded after reviewing more than 200 different studies of natural gas leaks across North America.

But scientists cannot confirm where it is coming from. Why? Well, it seems that the EPA must obtain corporate driller's permission to come on their sites to make the necessary measurements!

And, there are other problems with EPA's monitoring of methane leaks.

You have to understand that government agencies function to protect the interests of corporations, not the public. This has been demonstrated time and again for numerous agencies whether the subject is climate destabilization, nuclear contamination, food safety, or banking regulations. Corporations control every component of our government from elections to the court justices to Congress to the Executive Branch to regulatory agencies. (See this, this, this. this, this, and this.)