Exclusive: Fixing a leak can be simple and equivalent to closing a coal power station, making lack of action maddening, say analysts
The world’s worst mega-leaks of the potent greenhouse gas methane in 2025 have been revealed by an analysis of satellite data.
The super-polluting plumes from oil and gas facilities have a colossal heating impact on the climate but often result from poor maintenance and can be simple to fix. The assessment found dozens of mega-leaks, each having the same global heating impact as a coal-fired power station.
The researchers said it was “maddening” that such easy action to fight the climate crisis was not being taken, and said people should be angry. Stopping the leaks can even be free, given that captured gas can be sold – methane is the “natural gas” that fires power stations.
It’s not an “or” situation. It is and always has been an “and”.
My gripe is with people refusing to do anything on a personal level because “what does it matter when X industry pollutes more in 5 minutes than I do in a year?”.
Lookup where the expression Carbon Footprint came from, what ad campaign birthed the term and what were the motivations of the companies involved in doing so. It’s not a matter of “and”, it’s a matter of propaganda or actual reality.