Between 69 and 84 percent of observed methane gas flares in Texas were unpermitted, environmental group Earthworks said in a report published on Thursday, which says the Railroad Commission of Texas “systemically fails to regulate flaring.” For the report, Earthworks compared RRC’s flare permitting database against 227 flares directly observed and recorded during helicopter flyovers with optical gas imaging cameras. The cross-reference showed that 69-84 percent of observed flares did not have required flaring permits, Earthworks says in the report, which is endorsed by Environment Texas and the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter. The report notes that an unpermitted flare is a flare the RRC does not know exists. Therefore, state regulators don’t know how much gas was flared, nor how much pollution was emitted, which makes accurate decisions impossible, according to Earthworks. “As the world’s climate scientists tell us we need to cut methane pollution to avoid climate […]