Bloomberg (the news service, not the fracking hypocrite ) has the latest on the UB Shale Scandal. Wherein 83 professors and staff say exnay with the ackerfrays in pig latin. Full article here
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-27/faculty-question-suny-buffalo-about-fracking-institute.html
Faculty Question SUNY-Buffalo About Fracking
By Jim Efstathiou Jr. - Aug 26, 2012 10:30 PM ETState University of New York at Buffalo faculty are seeking more information on industry ties to an institute created to study fracking for natural gas.
A group of 83 professors and staff have requested documents on the founding and funding of the school’s Shale Resources and Society Institute, according to an Aug. 23 “open letter” to the university administration in the UB Reporter, an online faculty newspaper.
Enlarge imageIn fracking, millions of gallons of chemically treated water and sand are forced underground to break shale rock and free trapped gas. While shale gas has lowered energy prices, created jobs, and enhanced national security, fracking has been blamed for groundwater contamination. Photo: Julia Schmalz/Bloomberg
The institute released a report in May that didn’t acknowledge “long-term” ties by its authors to the gas industry while it seeks more than $1 million in corporate funding, Bloomberg Newsreported on July 23.
A U.S. boom in natural gas production from a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has raised concerns that ties between industry and academic research may compromise scholars’ independence, Bloomberg reported. Other universities have responded to similar concerns.
“A number of questions have been raised about whether the institute was really intended to provide independent academic inquiry,” according to the faculty members’ letter. “Only complete transparency can dispel the shadow now cast over UB.”
“Faculty seeks answers from UB on Shale Institute.” Buffalo Business First 28 Aug. 2012.
Campus newspaper goes into more details:
DiNatale, Sara. “Campus responds to disputed fracking claims.”UB Spectrum 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 28 Aug. 2012. Excerpts follow
. . . Two passages from the SRSI report were lifted from pro-fracking pieces written by the lead authors and not properly attributed in the SRSI report, according to PAI.
Holstun said the authors’ ties to the industry were not mentioned in the article itself, something he said was “following the worst standard, not the best standard.” It’s common practice, in most academic journals, to state: “I’ve been funded by this industry” and make the industry tie clear, Holstun said.
But Pitman feels the report had the appropriate disclosure. “I think it is absurd for people to suggest that any report would identify every source of funding that anyone has ever received,” he said. . . .
. . . “The biggest thing is that two of the main claims of the UB report were just flat out wrong,” Galbraith said. “When it comes down to it, they made a claim that is totally unsupported by their data. Their data doesn’t say what they say it says.” . . .
Kowalski, David. “UB Must Investigate Its Shale Institute.” Letter to the Buffalo News. 29 Aug. 2012.
Quigley, Buck. “UB Faculty and Staff Call For Transparency.” Artvoice 30 August 2012.
Robison, Daniel. “Controversy still simmers over SUNY Buffalo Shale Institute.”
“Controversy still simmers over SUNY Buffalo Shale Institute.” WBFO/WNED. 30 August 2012.
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