How Bad Are Oil & Gas Methane Leaks?

This week: how much methane are U.S. oil & natural gas drillers emitting? The data is accumulating — and it’s not looking good.  A recent Wall Street Journal analysis found yearly methane emissions were equivalent to 69 million cars on the road. Some estimates are higher. The United Nations says yearly methane leaks may amount to adding nearly 100 million cars.  As activist investors put more pressure on oil & gas drillers to deal with methane leaks, producers are now admitting there’s a problem. Meanwhile, they’re also touting “sustainably fracked” gas that comes from sources with fewer methane emissions. But what will happen to industry efforts to clean up methane leaks now that the Trump Administration is rolling back regulations? We are talking with Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Elliott, who’s been covering this leakage issue very closely. She’ll detail investor pressure, the impact of regulations, and why so many big drillers support slashing methane. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric. The Interchange is brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy. The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement. You can listen to Uplight’s five-part podcast series, called Illuminators, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or anywhere else you get your podcasts.