Clearing the Air

The paper argues that reducing methane leakage from U.S. natural gas systems to under 1 percent of total production would make natural gas's climate impact lower than coal or diesel. It suggests that this can be achieved by cutting current emissions by one-half to two-thirds using cost-effective technologies, many of which have payback periods of three years or less. While EPA standards provide a foundation, the authors advocate for further federal rules under the Clean Air Act and state-level actions to address emissions from new and existing wells.

• Reducing methane leakage rates in natural gas systems to below 1 percent of total production would ensure that the climate impacts of natural gas are lower than those of diesel fuel or coal across any time horizon. This target is achievable by reducing current emissions by one-half to two-thirds using proven, cost-effective technologies.
• Most strategies to reduce leaks and venting in U.S. natural gas systems are cost-effective, typically featuring payback periods of three years or less.
• While EPA standards for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) finalized in 2012 provide co-benefits for methane reduction, additional federal rules based on Clean Air Act (CAA) authorities and state-level actions are needed to address fugitive methane from existing and new equipment and wells.
• Cost-effective reductions in methane leakage are identified as one of the most critical steps for the U.S. to reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Clearing the Air. https://www.wri.org/research/clearing-air

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Clearing the Air. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/clearing-air.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Clearing the Air |url=https://www.wri.org/research/clearing-air |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendclearing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Clearing the Air}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/clearing-air}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }