Natural gas has long been touted as a clean bridge fuel that produces less carbon dioxide and lower emissions than coal. However, a recent study by Cornell University sends that conventional wisdom into the proverbial disposal pit.

According to Robert Howarth, a Cornell ecologist, natural gas development is doing more to advance global warming than mining and burning coal.

Howarth’s study points to hydraulic fracturing as the big culprit. During the process, as much as 8 percent of methane goes uncaptured and leaks into the atmosphere, and methane causes more climate change impact than carbon dioxide. Fracking creates more leakage because the process requires a longer time to drill the well, produces more blowback waste and requires more venting than conventional gas wells, according to the study.

For the Durango-based Oil and Gas Accountability Project, the study confirms long-held suspicions. “We’ve been at ground zero for natural gas development in La Plata County for 25 years,” said Gwen Lachelt, OGAP director. “As far as we can tell, natural gas is only a bridge to more natural gas, and is in no way clean energy.”

– Will Sands