Global tipping points, and how Utah contributes

Every new report on the climate crisis seems worse than the last. But the latest is not just more bad news, it should serve as a wake up call to policy makers and industries contributing to the crisis. The Global Tipping Points report is an “assessment of the risks and opportunities of both negative and positive tipping points in the Earth system and society.”

The report describes tipping points as being able to “trigger devastating domino effects, including the loss of whole ecosystems and capacity to grow staple crops, with societal impacts including mass displacement, political instability and financial collapse.” They cite five tipping points as being close to triggering –  the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, the dying off of warm-water coral reefs, the thawing of permafrost and impacts to a North Atlantic ocean current. 

How is Utah choosing to respond to the gravity of the climate crisis? This Salt Lake Tribune article says it all, “Utah oil and gas producers push back against new federal methane emissions rule.” It’s often hard to find good news on the environment, so we were thrilled when the EPA announced tighter rules on methane releases from domestic oil and gas drilling today. Unfortunately, Utah is trying to avoid those rules, saying they will be difficult to adhere to in the Uinta Basin. 

The Tribune article writes, “Leaking occurs due to faulty equipment or lack of monitoring at well sites, which leads to methane escaping into the atmosphere. These fugitive emissions are a scourge to the industry, too, since the escaped gas could be captured, processed and sold as natural gas.

The EPA’s new rule specifically targets leaks, i.e. fugitive emissions. The agency encourages oil and gas companies to use new technology to monitor production sites for leaks and requires companies to ensure that wells are properly plugged before ending emissions monitoring.

A report released earlier this year stated that of the 16 billion cubic feet of natural gas wasted in Utah in 2019, 87% was lost from leaks.”

Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 in the short term, so from the climate perspective it is vital that we do everything we can to minimize it reaching the atmosphere from venting, flaring, and leaking. Whenever methane is leaking from oil and gas production, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene are also leaking, which are highly toxic in and of themselves, but also precursors to ozone and PM2.5. 

The rule is supposed to take 58 million tons of methane emissions out of the atmosphere in the next 15 years.