The new fracking study environmentalists don't want you to see

Hint: The drilling procedure may be less dirty than originally believed

Fracking protester
(Image credit: Uwe Zucchi/dpa/Corbis)

This week, the University of Texas released a study showing that fracking releases much less methane into the atmosphere than previously thought.

Sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund and nine oil companies, the study analyzed more than 489 natural gas wells, and estimated that shale-gas drilling operations leak more than a million tons of methane annually. That's a lot, but "probably less than the Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2011," says The New York Times.

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Carmel Lobello is the business editor at TheWeek.com. Previously, she was an editor at DeathandTaxesMag.com.