Obama Administration Cracking Down On Potent Planet-Warming Gas

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday final rules that will crack down on methane emissions from the booming natural gas industry.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that has much greater planet-warming potential in the short term than carbon dioxide. It is also a primary component of natural gas, and its release during the oil and gas extraction and transportation process has emerged as a major concern as the U.S. has vastly increased its gas production. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking -- a process that uses a high-pressure blast of water, sand and chemicals to tap into gas contained in shale rock -- has allowed the U.S. to unlock a lot more gas in recent years.