Professor Robert “Fracking Earthquake” Jacobi has co-founded an “institute” at the University of Buffalo.
Funded by the gas industry via a foundation to crank out reports favorable to . . . . the gas industry.
The Shale $hamstitute says it will be “guided by science”
A phrase formally reserved for politicians and DEC officials who have blissfully ignored science - when it comes to shale gas.
Including Jacobi’s own work on New York faults and seismic risk
http://www.scribd.com/doc/81397215/Fracking-New-York-Faults
Which was completely ignored by the DEC in the SGEIS -
As the USGS pointed out in their letter to the DEC - see pages 9 - 19 - the bulk of their comments :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83492110/USGS-Letter-to-DEC
Science ?
We don’t need no frackin’ science, round here.
We’re a Shale $hamstitute, guided by fracking $$$$
Here’s their first report - a dinky statistical study that shows a 30% rate of problems at Pa. gas wells
http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2012/05/15/ub-shale-institute-taps-industry-shills-for-first-report/
EDUCATION: Buffalo shale gas institute to be ‘guided by science’ (Thursday, April 12, 2012)
Pamela King, E&E reporter
As New York considers lifting its ban on hydraulic fracturing, the University at Buffalo (UB) is preparing to launch a new institute that aims to answer questions about the potential of shale gas as an energy resource.
The school’s Shale Resources and Society Institute, which will officially launch in May, will conduct and release research on shale gas and other unconventional fuels, said John Martin, the institute’s director and the founder and principal consultant of JPMartin Energy Strategy LLC.
“We’re really trying to provide fact-based, objective information,” he said in a statement. “We’re guided by science.”
Robert Jacobi, a UB geology professor and the shale center’s co-director, said in the same statement that he expects the institute’s research to temper heated debates over whether to introduce fracturing, a controversial gas mining technique sometimes called “fracking,” in New York.
The state has put fracturing on hold for four years as officials consider the environmental impacts of the process, which detractors say pollutes groundwater and contaminates air. Industry groups say the wait has kept a large part of the Marcellus Shale’s tremendous economic benefits under lock and key.
“Many people in New York state have a strong opinion on this issue,” Jacobi said. “We want to become a valuable community resource where anyone can come and read about current research, outreach and education and have a feeling that they can trust these data.”
If New York does allow fracturing, the institute will be in the perfect position to study the technique’s impacts, Martin said.
“We’ll be able to track this from the first well forward,” he said in an interview with EnergyWire.
The multidisciplinary institute will draw on the expertise of its law, engineering and social sciences faculty as well as external academic research partners to help answer questions about how policy, regulations and health standards will have to adjust to reflect the introduction of fracturing.
Other research topics include the complex relationship between fossil fuels and renewable energy, Martin said.
UB is searching for funding from a mix of individuals and environmental and industry groups. Martin said he hopes to bring in a wide variety of funding partners to fully represent the gamut of groups that are affected by energy development.
Future plans for the institute include drawing in stakeholders to the center’s board of directors.
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