What 80 Tons of Methane Can Do to LA?

[thomhartmann]

[proverbialwisdom]

1. TYPO: 80K or 80,000 tons (and increasing)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/01/06/ca-gas-well-leaks-85k-tons-of-methane.html

OUT OF CONTROL
2 days ago
California Gas Well Leaks 85K Tons of Methane

An uncontrolled gas leak at the Aliso Canyon well has released about 85,000 tons of methane, making it the biggest contributor to climate change in California. The rupture in the natural gas well, which sits more than 8,700 feet underground, was first detected in October at the Southern California Gas Co. facility north of Los Angeles in Porter Ranch, where hundreds of residents have been evacuated. Scientists say methane pollutes at more than 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period...

Highly informative interview. Thank you for posting.

[Peace Patriot]

2. "WHAT WENT WRONG AT PORTER RANCH?" (besides Corporate Democrats running things).

Good, full background article on the leak, the affected people and SoCalGas:

WHAT WENT WRONG AT PORTER RANCH?
http://www.laweekly.com/news/what-went-wrong-at-porter-ranch-6405804

L.A. Weekly sort of wimps out, however, with this linked article:
GOV. BROWN CRACKS DOWN ON GAS COMPANY FOLLOWING PORTER RANCH DISASTER
http://www.laweekly.com/news/gov-brown-cracks-down-on-gas-company-following-porter-ranch-disaster-6452684

But the article itself is not so sure that this is a "crackdown."

Brown's action will impose new emergency regulations on gas storage facilities throughout the state. Operators will be required to use imaging technology to check for leaks at well sites on a daily basis. They will also have to verify the mechanical integrity of wells and regularly test safety valves. Some of the new rules appear to mandate practices that are already standard in the industry, and it will require further detail to understand how strict the new requirements are. --from the above L.A. Weekly article on Brown

Both articles were written by Gene Mauddaus but I wonder who wrote the headlines.

What's happening here, politically, is that the consequences of Corporate Rule, and in particular the complicity of Corporate Democrats with Corporate Rule--after half a century of fascist Reaganism--have become a big, ugly, stinking, toxic cloud for all to see.

Thank you, Thom Hartmann, once again, for making this very, very clear.