Natural gas not as green as once thought?

A new study released to the NYT shows that the extraction of natural gas may be unexpectedly costly in terms of CO2 emissions. If getting gas from shale results in large emissions, then it won't matter how much more cleanly the gas burns. At the same time, I'm swayed by the industry representative who argues that the amount of emissions described by the author are unrealistic. Of course I know nothing about the technical details, but if indeed so much is lost in the process, the extractors are losing a great deal of money. That seems unlikely. Still, looking at the environmental extraction costs is a gap in the literature that finally has been addressed. One more item on the laundry list of issues to keep track of as the natural gas economy continues to build....