The Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico is dotted with drilling rigs, crisscrossed by pipelines and produces far more oil than any other part of the U.S. Yet its emissions of a key greenhouse gas are mostly a mystery, one that a nonprofit group aims to solve. The Environmental Defense Fund said Wednesday in a statement it’s overseeing a year-long program to monitor methane released across the Permian. The project will start measuring emissions in November using towers and mobile readings, and will begin publishing data early next year. The energy industry is the leading industrial source of methane, which is the main component of natural gas and traps more atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide. Much of that methane is escaping from pipelines, wellheads and compressor […]