The Environmental Protection Agency is failing to control leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from the nation’s natural-gas pipelines, the agency’s inspector general said Friday. A report calls on the EPA to do more to control inadvertent emissions of methane, which has a more intense—though shorter—warming effect on the planet than carbon dioxide, the agency said. Natural gas consists almost entirely of methane. About $192 million of natural gas was lost in 2011 because of leaks in pipelines, known as distribution lines, that transport the fuel to end users, the inspector general said. That cost was borne by consumers, according to the report. The inspector general said a voluntary EPA program to encourage energy companies to address methane emissions hasn’t helped to reduce leaks. The nation’s plentiful supplies of natural gas are a central part of President Barack Obama ‘s strategy to address climate change, since burning natural […]