The Washington Post used to be a trusted newspaper where a reader could find accurate information. But on Tuesday March 16, 2010, the Post ran in its “Planet Panel” column anti-climate change propaganda from the notorious George C. Marshall Institute. There is no doubt that the late General Marshall would be spinning in his grave if he knew that the gas and petroleum industry was exploiting his reputation through an institute that specializes in confusing the public with industry-paid junk science.
The Post asked William O’Keefe, the CEO of the wingnut Marshall Institute, to write about recent reports on arctic methane hydrate emissions and their potential effect on climate change. Mr. O’Keefe is the former head of the American Petroleum Institute. Asking O’Keefe to be an unbiased expert on climate change is like asking an executive of Brown and Williamson about the dangers of cigarettes and secondhand smoke.
O’Keefe said, “It would be helpful to know better how long this release has been taking place as well as to gain some insights into whether similar releases took place when temperatures were as warm as or warmer than the present. Context is important. What shouldn’t happen, but probably will, is that climate change advocates use this report to create a false sense of urgency about passing cap and trade legislation.”
He went on to argue, “Nothing that the Congress can do will change the fact that if permafrost continues to melt, methane release will continue as well.” O’Keefe could be right. Man may have already warmed the earth to the tipping point, and his lobbying to delay any action has been so successful that it is too late to reverse the trend. Or, on the other hand, if C02 limits are put into effect, we might still be able to turn things around.
The Post gave O’Keefe the platform to create doubt about real facts and real science. That is the role the Marshall Institute plays for its benefactors in the carbon business. His message is: Slow down. Let’s study things. Let’s make sure of the science.
Put another way: You would not want O’Keefe running NASA when an asteroid is hurtling toward earth. He would want to “study” the situation. Wait long enough and there will be no one left to correct anything.
Now, out of fairness, one cannot fault O’Keefe for spewing out the industry line on global warming. After all, he makes big bucks convincing Washington that carbon is good for us, and it should not be regulated by the EPA or anyone else. But Washington Post editors should know better. Running O’Keefe out of context from a larger Web site discussion to fill a little space in the newspaper should have been caught by a senior editor. The problem is: There seems to be no one left actually reading, let alone editing, the newspaper. The Post these days is a mess. Yes, there are still great reporters on staff, but Post editing sucks. The kind of nonsense that gets by stupid bookers on cable news outlets is now happening at The Post. Not using lobbyists for science and evironment columns should be covered in the employee’s handbook.
Ironically, the issue in the column is an important one. Methane hydrate is both promising and scary. Imagine, massive amounts of natural gas trapped in ice crystals. If we could find a way to mine it from our ocean floors, we could power the world. Of course, if humankind keeps warming the climate by producing C02 emissions, the ice could just melt, the gas could be released uncontrollably, and we could all be doomed.
There were folks in the Bush II era who actually believed that the natural threat of methane melt off was a good defense for not wasting money trying to reign in C02 emissions. It was kind of: If we are going to die anyway, why bother?
Methane hydrate is clean-burning methane trapped in otherwise ordinary ice. It remains solid up to 65 degrees. It lies on the ocean floor, often only inches below the top of the sediment. You can bring it to the surface, light it and hold it in your hands as it burns.
A Department of Energy report on it, titled “Future Energy within Our Grasp,” says it may hold more energy than all the coal, oil and natural gas in the world combined. One cubic foot of methane hydrate holds 168 cubic feet of natural gas.
But developing that energy won’t be easy. The oil and gas industry must find a way to capture the methane in it. BP has a hydrate test well off the North Slope of Alaska and Chevron has one in the Gulf of Mexico. The bigger methane hydrate story may be what scientists don’t know about it. Disturbing methane hydrate deposits might release dangerous quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas 62 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Even without distrubing the hydrate deposits, the fuse to a holocaust may be burning already because of global warming. Some scientists fear global warming is causing methane hydrate to release its methane, which will further warm this doomed planet, accelerating release of more and more methane in a spiral that cannot be stopped.
Is fire and ice a new “white gold,” or will methane hydrate doom us? It would be nice if The Post would send some of its remaining talent to the field to actually collect some real facts.
