Methane Catastrophe In California: Implications For Cap And Trade

Southern California is, at this very moment, in the throes of what is potentially the most prolific gas leak to have ever occurred. The disaster–a methane leak at a natural gas storage facility in Porter Ranch, California–has yet to galvanize the kind of media and popular attention that attended the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. However, particularly from a climate change perspective, the ongoing methane gas leak is unfortunately turning out to be a significant environmental disaster.

The leak's locus is a tiny pipe buried more than a kilometer underground at the natural gas storage facility, owned by SoCalGas. It began in October and has proven resistant to attempts to contain it. The company hopes to have it contained by sometime in March, 2016.