Methane - Colorless, Odorless, Tasteless, and Lethal

Colorless, Odorless, Tasteless & Lethal

My uncle used to play a simpleton’s trick on us when we were very young and qualified as purebred simpletons.  It was called “Pull my finger.”  It was also at that time in our pre-pubescent youth that all things poop, gross, and fart were golden moments of laughter.  

Uncle Ralph enjoyed a burger with jalapenos or a well-packed burrito; thus, a pulled finger might just bring an explosive drum roll from his nether regions.  Farts, by and large, are not only common but more usually a balance of sulphur and hydrogen in humans rather than methane.  Because of that, they usually smell and are also combustible. I won’t go any further.

Methane, a gaseous by-product often associated with ruminant cattle, is a lesser product of human consumption.  Nevertheless, methane is actually a hideously dangerous gas affecting our climate’s increasing warming, and recent determinations by the E.P.A. (once known as the Environmental Protection Agency) pose a serious threat to our universal experiences as warmest months on record, monstrous heat-fueled hurricanes, and summer fueled fires on our west coast.  

A QUICK PRIMER ON METHANE ALA TRUMP.

Simply put, the air around us is gaseous – mostly oxygen, nitrogen and argon.  BUT certain gases are more likely to produce “global warming” and have earned the dubious character description of Greenhouse Gases.  Most of us know that carbon dioxide has earned a special notoriety in the media for its increasing accumulation and increase environmental changes. The more C02 in the world, the more magnification and holding of heat in our atmosphere.   

Methane is far different than carbon dioxide.  Far different and far deadlier.

Before he left office, Obama signed a number of Presidential Orders, one of which was the Gas Reduction Rule of 2016.  As with all if not most Presidential Orders by Obama, the Trump Administration is rolling back the previous leader’s regulation by now allowing for the increased release of methane gas into our atmosphere and environment.  

            

You see, methane wasn’t a dangerous addition coming from Uncle Ralph’s extended finger or the likely addition of millions of belching and farting bovines in open pastures (which they do), it is the very nature of the gas methane and its influence on global warming that makes it most sinister and integral in the warming of our atmosphere.

Methane – or natural gas – is developed naturally over thousands of years underground and can remain in pockets for continuing thousands of years.  Do you have gas heat?   

Those who argue against methane’s likely influence in global warming cite methane’s quick breakdown in the atmosphere as compared to 02 or H20; that is within 15 – 20 years.  

Are you staying with me? I hope so.  In other words, while trying to capture fossil fuels for their markets, big businesses run by people like the Koch brothers "accidentally" release tons of methane and Obama's regulation forces them to financially assume the responsibility to prevent or limit this loss of methane into the atmosphere.   

It is true that methane breaks down faster than most other gases, but that defense by most oil industries is specious (a falsehood).  

Methane is far more dangerous than 02 or H20 or even C02.  

Some molecules are able to absorb more heat from the sun than others, and methane is a sponge of warmth acquisition.  Floating around out there in the environment, methane may last for a shorter period of time that major culprits like C02, but it has the capacity to create 34 times the potency of C02 over a century.   

The GWP (Global Warming Potential) of a gas is measured by life span and ability to accrue  and hold warmth.   in fact, methane’s shorter life-span in our atmosphere shows an actual GWP over 20 years of 86 times the negative influence of C02.  Methane may have a shorter lifespan, but it has nearly 100 times the destructive power to our climate.  

Now, the Trump Administration has allowed for the release of leaked gas (methane) into our environment as a natural occurrence by gas and fuel industries.  The original Obama Order attempted to reign in methane waste and release by 170,000 tons every year – equal to the greenhouse emissions of nearly 900,000 vehicles annually.  Trump's rollback of this earlier attempt to curb environmental destruction will also run parallel to rollbacks on vehicle fuel economy standards as well as his earlier curbs on the release of refrigerant gases (you’ll recall the hole in the ozone a few decades ago).  

Honestly, any nation looking for energy sources will likely increase methane release, but not always intentionally or arbitrarily.  The search and development of fossil fuels (especially coal) release methane. Beyond biogenic sources (cattle, etc.) the other two culprits are usually fossil fuel development, wildfires and intentional burning (think Amazon forest).  

Trump’s EPA proposal will reduce the need for monitoring methane release, create more exemptions to current standards, provide for alternative methods like flaring, and allow for increased release of methane during natural gas capture.  Flaring and venting is the process by which captured energy is wasted in an uncontrolled release into the environment by oil producers as an efficiency method during production.  Trump’s administration believes that this move to allow increased methane release into our environment will save the oil and fuel industry around $75 million per year. The current EPA under Trump has replied to environmental concerns that not enough information or data is available to quantify the possible health costs or later issues with such a release of methane into our environment. 

Breaking News: Summer will be extended.

Future news: Winter will be postponed.

You can call the Whitehouse at 202-456-1111.