An interesting question is whether this is better than the alternative: methane leaking into the atmosphere for 40 years. Methane is a more potent greenhouse g

An interesting question is whether this is better than the alternative: methane leaking into the atmosphere for 40 years. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, so unless there was a viable plan to cap the crater, this might have been the lesser of evils. But maybe not. I don't know what the other options were. Maybe it would have self-extinguished the methane leak if it weren't literally on fire.