![Is Cheap Natural Gas Really “Greener” Than Oil?](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2016/03/Natural-Gas-Storage-corporationprofile.wordpress.com_.jpg?w=300&h=200&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
Is Cheap Natural Gas Really “Greener” Than Oil?
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An environmental watchdog group cautions that the nation's boom in cheap natural gas — often viewed as a clean energy source — is spawning a wave of petrochemical plants that, if built, will emit massive amounts of greenhouse gases.
The Washington-based Environmental Integrity Project says hydraulic fracturing of shale rock formations and other advances, such as horizontal drilling, have made natural gas cheap and plentiful — so plentiful that the United States has begun exporting gas.
Thanks to this energy boom, the group calculated that if 44 large-scale petrochemical developments proposed or permitted in 2015 were built they would spew as much pollution as 19 new coal-fired power plants would.
The report says this potential load of pollution needs to be considered in efforts to curb greenhouse gases.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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