Fracked Gas

Fighting Fracked Gas (Methane)

To protect human health from the ravages of climate change, we must stop spewing heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. One of the most urgent gases to control is methane.

PSR has summarized the health threats associated with methane in our report Too Dirty, Too Dangerous. For a quick overview, read on.

A potent greenhouse gas

Methane, over its first 20 years in the atmosphere, is 86 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Fortunately methane breaks down over time, so its climate impact declines. However, the breakdown products of methane include water vapor and carbon dioxide, both of which trap heat. So even 100 years after entering the atmosphere, methane’s byproducts keep contributing to global warming.

The result: An increase in heat, extreme storms, and sea level rise, each of which unleashes dangerous health consequences.

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Contamination from fracking

Although methane is marketed under the name “natural gas,” there is nothing natural about the way it is extracted using hydraulic horizontal fracturing, or fracking. In the fracking process, a complex mix of chemicals, many of which are toxic, and silica sand are added to millions of gallons of clean water. That contaminated water is forced underground at extremely high pressure, fracturing deep underground bands of rock where small bubbles of methane are found. The bubbles of methane, along with other naturally occurring dangerous gases and much of the contaminated water, are brought back to the surface.

The result: toxic air pollution and toxic threats to local drinking water. A burgeoning literature of scientific and medical studies shows increases in serious health outcomes associated with living near fracking sites.

Pipelines transport toxics

It’s not only communities located near fracking sites that suffer health consequences from fracking. An extensive network of pipelines crisscrosses the U.S., carrying fracked gas through other communities hundreds of miles from fracking sites. These pipelines and related infrastructure exposing these communities to accidental leaks, deliberate releases of gas known as “blowdowns,” and sometimes even devastating explosions.

Featured Resource

Fracking Compendium, 8th Edition

April 2022

The eighth edition of the fracking “Compendium,” a collection of some 2,000 abstracts of and links to medical, scientific and investigative reports about the consequences of oil and gas drilling, fracking, and infrastructure.

Cows near a fracking site

By The Numbers

86x

Methane is 86 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over its first 20 years.

Fracking and Climate

Methane leaks are accelerating the climate catastrophe. Learn why health professionals reject methane as an energy solution.

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90%

drop in the cost of renewable energy in the last decade

PSR fights for 100% renewables

By making a rapid transition to 100 percent clean renewable energy systems, we can avert climate disaster and improve health outcomes

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Photo: WildEarth Guardians / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0