Report: Cheap Gas Fuels Texas Petrochemical Sector
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A nonprofit environmental watchdog says a surge in petrochemical operations in Texas could double the industry's greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
The Environmental Integrity Project says in a report released Tuesday that federal and local environmental agencies have issued 46 greenhouse-gas permits for petrochemical projects nationwide since 2012 when natural gas prices plummeted.
Spokesman Ilan Levin says "cheap and abundant" natural gas has fuelled a surge in petrochemical operations.
Half are in Texas. The report says newly permitted fertilizer plants, chemical factories, refineries and liquid natural gas export terminals in Texas would nearly double the industry's greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
The report says the environmental gains in the electric utility sector could be offset by an increase in fossil fuel emissions from industrial petrochemical projects.
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