"UXBRIDGE, Canada -- Hundreds of thousands of shale gas wells are being "fracked" in the United States and Canada, allowing large amounts of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, to escape into the atmosphere, new studies have shown. Shale gas production results in 40 to 60 percent more global warming emissions than conventional gas, said Robert Howarth of Cornell University in New York State."

'Shale gas also has a larger greenhouse gas footprint than oil or coal over the short term,' said Howarth, co-author of a study called 'Venting and Leaking of Methane from Shale Gas Development' to be published in the journal Climatic Change."

Stephen Leahy reports for Inter Press Service January 24, 2012. [2]