The article UT Scientists Measure Methane Emissions From Fracking speaks of a recent study done by the University of Texas, along with a few other research institutions, about the emission of methane gas from natural gas wells in Texas. Contrary to popular belief that CO2 is the primary cause of global warming, methane gas is actually one of the leading causes, thus the relevancy of the study. The controversy that sparked the study was differences between the EPA's methane estimates of wells and the Oil and Gas company estimates. The study is one of the first of it's kind, measuring emissions at the well itself, as many previous studies have measured the emissions at several points of production with varying results. The study in question found that the process of actually creating the wells and beginning to pump is actually far cleaner than the EPA estimated, however the continual use of the wells was emitting significantly more methane than predicted by the EPA. Essentially the regulation of wells seems to be sub-par as much of the post setup methane can be attributed to leaks, however it proves that fracking isn't nearly as harmful to setup as people would believe. Another flaw being that the study only investigated natural gas wells, whereas oil wells have worse emissions.
The study is contested however, as some nonprofits, such as the Public Accountability, claim that leading scientists in the study did not disclose their relationship to large Oil and Gas companies and therefore the study should be taken with a grain of salt, or not believed at all. The influence of the Gas companies has always been a source of disagreement for these studies, however researchers claim that the money they provide is key to securing the livelihood of the studies, and that the companies have no say on how the research will be interpreted.
Essentially the article gave the impression that fracking for natural gas is safe enough to continue with in terms of methane emissions, but does need some work when it comes to production leaks.
