Proposed Australian emissions shift could conceal methane — Ember

Australian opencut coal mine operators may be able avoid reporting hundreds of thousands of tons of methane emissions if a government proposal to change how the releases are estimated is approved, according to Ember. The plan from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water would eliminate state-provided emissions factors and required operators to determine their own. But the current proposal doesn’t include crucial safeguards to ensure independent verification and the accuracy of the data, Chris Wright, a climate strategy advisor at the energy think tank, said in a report.