What You Need To Know About US-China Fracking Agenda

Washington, DC – In response to today’s joint announcement between the United States and China to reduce their countries’ respective carbon emissions, Wenonah Hauter of Food & Water Watch released the following statement on behalf of Americans Against Fracking

“The newly announced carbon emission targets between the United States and China again ignore the detrimental effects of methane on the climate. Attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions often ignore that methane is an even more powerful greenhouse gas than is carbon dioxide. And on top of that, the fracking process releases much more methane than the United States government even realizes, due to loopholes allowing oil and gas companies to self-report whatever they like, while hiding critical data which makes effective regulation of fracking impossible. The massive amount of methane released from the fracking process will do more damage to the climate in a shorter amount of time, we will reach climate tipping points even faster, making it even more difficult to turn back the damage we have already done.”

“The United States and China are two of the most important countries in the fight against climate change, yet today’s announcement reflects nothing more than the continued promotion of fracking under the guise of climate progress that we have seen time and time again from the Obama Administration. The United States has positioned natural gas, and the methane it produces, as a bridge fuel, and incentivizes the increased production of natural gas in its proposed rules for power plants to reduce their carbon emissions. Methane is a carbon emission too. Promoting natural gas, and the fracking that inevitably comes with it, will serve to detract from investment and production of truly renewable and clean energy that would actually serve to help solve the climate crisis.”