But in the US, flaring has grown rapidly over the past five years – soaring from 78 bcf) in 2007 to 251 b.c.f. in 2011 – a 223 percent increase. That rate of growth is far faster than all other big flaring nations, new World Bank data shows. That also has led to another dubious distinction for the US – thrusting it from a virtual tie for 14th place among the world’s top 20 flaring nations by volume in 2007 into fifth place last year.

In North Dakota, flaring is “due to insufficient natural gas pipeline capacity and processing facilities in the Bakken shale region,” the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported in November. “Over 35 percent of North Dakota’s natural gas production so far in 2011 has been flared or otherwise not marketed.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2012/0713/Thanks-to-North-Dakota-US-waste-of-natural-gas-grows-rapidly

The issue is whether US CO2 has peaked and dropped. The author then quickly goes beyond CO2 with –

“Methane, flaring, and biomass emissions not included in the primary EIA numbers mean those numbers don’t fully reflect energy-related GHG emissions.”

Methane may be increasing, but it is not CO2. It is a different GHG and needs to be controlled. But including it in an argument that CO2 has changed is like counting cats in a dog inventory.

Flaring likely is a CO2 source, but unless some data is provided it’s not clear that flaring has taken overall CO2 levels significantly higher. And data would be needed to show that flaring is happening at a higher rate.

Bio-CO2 is part of the CO2 cycle, it does not involve carbon extraction from under the ground. Unless it is shown that we are significantly decreasing the vegetative inventory of the country and turning it into CO2 this is a bad inclusion.

This, to me, is another example of hand-wringing, pearl clutching “everything is turning to shit” analysis. Why can we not recognize progress when we achieve it?

We’ve made our personal transportation more fuel efficient. We’ve increased our use of public transportation.

We’ve moved significant electricity production from coal to natural gas reducing that CO2 from generation by 50%. We’re now making 3.5% of our electricity with non-hydro renewables.

Our homes are using far less heating oil.

We’re increasing electricity efficiency in everything from light bulbs to large industrial equipment.

Have we solved the problem? No, of course not. But we’ve made progress and if we do not recognize that progress we risk not recognizing what does and has worked. We need to learn the solutions and we need to cheer ourselves on when we do make progress.

I’ve got no use for doomers.

Good post. However all the machinations of the EPA look to me like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. Even though man made CO2 accounts for about 20% of the total CO2 on an annual basis, it’s the fact that it’s EXTRA CO2 and that is what is leading to the more, much more, dangerous release of the trapped methane in the melting permafrost. The only sentence in the entire report that is important is the last one (And no blip in annual emissions, whether actual or invented, is going to
rescue business-as-usual from this fundamental need for real climate action.)

If the world doesn’t “get this” and get it soon AND act we are, I’m afraid, in for a bumpy ride to our collective grave.

Regards,
Ed