“A billowing wake-up call from LA on greenhouse gas,” a Fresno Bee editorial 12/31, tells of methane leaking since October from an underground natural gas reservoir in the San Fernando Valley. The source of the massive leak has only recently been located but cannot be fixed for several more months.
Infrared images of the catastrophe show its smelly but invisible plume rising like an industrial smokestack. Thousands of families living downwind of its rotten egg smell have had to be relocated.... the Environmental Defense Fund estimates the leakage will have the same 20-year climate impact as driving 7 million cars a day.
The editors emphasize the need for more government action and regulation to prevent such emissions. A report to the California Public Utilities Commission last year said that a “robust program to inspect underground storage wells” is needed because the infrastructure is aging and some wells date to the 1940’s. The editors also warn that California’s leadership in fighting climate change is at risk if it doesn’t match words with action.
The battle against climate change isn’t some lofty thing that happens at global conferences. It’s about countless mundane acts at the local level: getting people out of gas guzzlers, cleaning port pollution, stopping giant methane leaks before they happen.
The editorial says the California Air Resources Board has only recently begun to focus on methane and other greenhouse gases in addition to carbon dioxide; regulators should inspect wells more often; and legislators should mandate more efficient detection of leakage from oil and gas operations. It also notes the importance of improved regulatory action in other areas:
The Volkswagen diesel scandal showed what a difference the Air Resources Board can make when it heightens standards for routine testing. A recent disclosure that the Port of Los Angeles was lagging on an action plan to cut air pollution also underscored the importance of tougher South Coast Air Quality Management District enforcement.
With its Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and twelve climate bills introduced in the 2015 legislative session, California has made progress in regulating greenhouse gas pollution. However, the methane cloud near Los Angeles reveals a lack of oversight and enforcement that must be corrected.