Topic: CNSNews.com
Barbara Boland writes in a Dec. 30 CNSNews.com article:
Twenty-one scientists sent a letter this month to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown praising the use of fracking in California by oil companies and the new regulations on the procedure put in place that, they believe, will allow for a safe way to develop the “extraordinary” potential of the state’s shale oil reserves, improve the economy, create jobs, and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
[...]
The letter is signed by leading geological, petroleum engineering, earth sciences and engineering scientists from some of the leading universities in the country, including Cornell, Penn State, UCal-Berkeley, Syracuse, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.
Boland doesn't mention why such a letter would get written in the first place -- it was proffered by a pro-fracking group.
Boland links to a copy of the letter hosted at a website called Energy In Depth, which states about itself:
Launched by the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) in 2009, Energy In Depth (EID) is a research, education and public outreach campaign focused on getting the facts out about the promise and potential of responsibly developing America’s onshore energy resource base – especially abundant sources of oil and natural gas from shale and other “tight” formations across the country.
It’s an effort that benefits directly from the support, direction and technical expertise of a broad segment of America’s oil and natural gas industry, led in Washington by IPAA, and guided on the ground by IPAA’s more than 6,000 members and affiliates in the states.
On this site, you’ll find fact sheets and videos and charts and graphs — some boiling down the steps involved in the development process, others straightening out the myths you may have heard about what we do and how we do it. You’ll find letters and quotes from state and federal regulators testifying to the safety of the process – from drilling and completing the well, to managing and recycling the water, to bringing that well-site back to its original condition. And you’ll also find studies – some on jobs, others on safety, and even a few about how the shale “revolution” in the United States continues to impact energy markets (for the better!) all around the world.
In an Energy In Depth post promoting the letter, it's noted that "Energy in Depth helped to organize the letter, but exerted no editorial control over the content."
This bias is something Boland's readers should have been told about, but Boland apparently didn't find it newsworthy.
CNS' parent, the Media Research Center, has received funding from ExxonMobil and oilman T. Boone Pickens, and CNS frequently promotes talking points from the oil and gas industry.
