{"id":13826,"date":"2016-08-22T11:50:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T16:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=13826"},"modified":"2016-08-31T17:18:02","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T22:18:02","slug":"why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil &#038; Gas Emissions Going Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-13827\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg\" alt=\"NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>A <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/pennsylvania\/2016\/08\/17\/air-pollutants-from-pa-oil-and-gas-sites-continue-to-rise\/\">new report<\/a>\u00a0reveals that harmful emissions from oil and gas development are increasing.\u00a0 This is bad news for Pennsylvania families who have been repeatedly told by industry trade groups that pollution is under control.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Department of Environmental Protection, in 2014 oil and gas companies emitted nearly 110,000 tons of methane \u2013 a powerful climate pollutant that\u2019s rapidly accelerating global warming. That represents an\u00a0increase over the previous year.\u00a0With 2016 on pace to be the warmest year ever recorded, we should be <strong><em>reducing <\/em><\/strong>methane emissions, not increasing them.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The uptick in methane emissions is not the only red flag. The DEP reports that other pollutants known to create severe health problems are also on the rise.\u00a0 According to DEP, industry emitted more than 6 thousand tons of smog-forming Volatile Organic Compounds \u2013 a 25% increase over the previous year. For the nearly 1 million Pennsylvanians who suffer from asthma, this rise in smog-forming pollution is especially troubling.<\/p>\n<p>While alarming, these figures still don\u2019t represent the full scope of pollution created by this industry.\u00a0 The data released by the DEP merely reflects what was reported.\u00a0 Many scientific studies reveal that emissions are likely much higher. \u00a0One study in Texas, for example, revealed that emissions were almost <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2015\/12\/07\/new-study-finds-oil-gas-methane-emissions-in-the-barnett-shale-almost-twice-what-official-estimates-suggest\/\">twice as high<\/a> as official estimates.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there is clear evidence that regulations can help drive down emissions.\u00a0In 2012 the EPA started requiring companies to practice \u201cgreen completions\u201d on new gas wells. \u00a0Since then, reported data indicates completion emissions in Pennsylvania have declined by over 80%. \u00a0Colorado also serves as a textbook example: in 2014, the state began regulating oil and gas methane emissions and that same year methane emissions from oil and gas production declined 10% according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency.<\/p>\n<p>With oil and gas emissions going up in Pennsylvania, it\u2019s clear that the state should get serious about the problem. In January, Governor Wolf and the DEP <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/01\/20\/pennsylvania-announces-plan-for-strongest-methane-rules-in-the-nation\/\">committed to regulating industry\u2019s methane and VOC pollution<\/a> but these protections have yet to become a reality due largely to counterproductive efforts from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/brand\/Viewpoints_Pennsylvania_legislators_are_poisoning_our_environment.html\">state legislature<\/a>.\u00a0 How much higher do emissions have to rise before Pennsylvania communities can get the protections they were promised?<\/p>\n<p>Left to its own devices, oil and gas companies have made air pollution in Pennsylvania worse.\u00a0 And while we may still not know the full scope of Pennsylvania\u2019s emissions, these new figures make it abundantly clear that we need more oversight of the oil and gas industry in order to protect Pennsylvania from the rising risks of expanding development.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new report\u00a0reveals that harmful emissions from oil and gas development are increasing.\u00a0 This is bad news for Pennsylvania families who have been repeatedly told by industry trade groups that pollution is under control. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, in 2014 oil and gas companies emitted nearly 110,000 tons of methane \u2013 a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29476,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8015,439,693],"tags":[34728],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-13826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-quality","category-climate","category-natural-gas","tag-pennsylvania"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil &amp; Gas Emissions Going Up? - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil &amp; Gas Emissions Going Up? - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new report\u00a0reveals that harmful emissions from oil and gas development are increasing.\u00a0 This is bad news for Pennsylvania families who have been repeatedly told by industry trade groups that pollution is under control. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, in 2014 oil and gas companies emitted nearly 110,000 tons of methane \u2013 a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-22T16:50:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-31T22:18:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Andrew Williams\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bd24b8031df972605af9a4732514131f\"},\"headline\":\"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil &#038; Gas Emissions Going Up?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-22T16:50:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-31T22:18:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Pennsylvania\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Air Quality\",\"Climate\",\"Natural Gas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil & Gas Emissions Going Up? - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-22T16:50:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-31T22:18:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bd24b8031df972605af9a4732514131f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/22\\\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil &#038; Gas Emissions Going Up?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bd24b8031df972605af9a4732514131f\",\"name\":\"Andrew Williams\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.edf.org\\\/people\\\/andrew-williams\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/author\\\/anwilliams\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil & Gas Emissions Going Up? - Energy Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil & Gas Emissions Going Up? - Energy Exchange","og_description":"A new report\u00a0reveals that harmful emissions from oil and gas development are increasing.\u00a0 This is bad news for Pennsylvania families who have been repeatedly told by industry trade groups that pollution is under control. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, in 2014 oil and gas companies emitted nearly 110,000 tons of methane \u2013 a ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/","og_site_name":"Energy Exchange","article_published_time":"2016-08-22T16:50:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-31T22:18:02+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Andrew Williams","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Williams","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/"},"author":{"name":"Andrew Williams","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/bd24b8031df972605af9a4732514131f"},"headline":"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil &#038; Gas Emissions Going Up?","datePublished":"2016-08-22T16:50:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-31T22:18:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/"},"wordCount":428,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg","keywords":["Pennsylvania"],"articleSection":["Air Quality","Climate","Natural Gas"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/","name":"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil & Gas Emissions Going Up? - Energy Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg","datePublished":"2016-08-22T16:50:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-31T22:18:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/bd24b8031df972605af9a4732514131f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/08\/NatlGasFlares_142558250_Photos-RF-300x197.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/08\/22\/why-are-pennsylvanias-oil-gas-emissions-going-up\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Are Pennsylvania\u2019s Oil &#038; Gas Emissions Going Up?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/","name":"Energy Exchange","description":"Accelerating the clean energy revolution","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/bd24b8031df972605af9a4732514131f","name":"Andrew Williams","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.edf.org\/people\/andrew-williams"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/anwilliams\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13826\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13826"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=13826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}