Science: Great Until it Says Something You Don't Want to Hear

The State Geologist of New York, Taury Smith, says he can't find an example of fracking causing groundwater pollution:

..."The worst spin on the worst incidents are treated as if it's going to be the norm here," said Taury Smith, the state geologist, a self-described liberal Democrat more concerned with global warming than extraction of natural gas from one of the largest sources available in the United States. "This could really help us fight climate change; this is a huge gift, this shale."

He said he has been examining the science of hydrofracturing the shale for three years and has found no cases in which the process has led to groundwater contamination, although several portrayals by anti-fracking groups and featured in the press have raised concerns about underground pools being harmed because of drilling.

"Those are exaggerated problems; each incident wasn't the result of hydro-fracking. There were incidents of groundwater contamination near frack sites, but they were unrelated," Smith said. He said the industry should be strictly monitored by the Department of Environmental Conservation, and should be encouraged to move the nation away from coal-fired power and to the more environmentally friendly natural gas.

"I'm for a strong regulation by DEC. They have no vested interest. The environmental groups have a vested interest. The companies have a huge profit at stake, so I wouldn't trust them either," Smith, who works for the State Museum said. "If there's one group you can trust it's the DEC."...

Unsurprisingly, this didn't sit well with environmental activists.  The state Education Department has forbidden Dr. Smith from speaking to reporters.  Of course, if a pro-environmental extremest is muzzled, the interest groups raise holy hell (and correctly so):

The blowback apparently has made the Education Department uncomfortable enough to cite a protocol that requires employees to check with the agency's communications office before talking to reporters, or face "appropriate administrative action." The agency said it's looking into Mr. Smith's private work, too.

We've been down this unfortunate road before. The state's former wildlife biologist, Ward Stone, endured official intimidation, including a threat of transfer, for his dogged pursuit of pollution. He was an important voice on issues like the state's own now-defunct trash incinerator in downtown Albany, where his tests found evidence of pollution in residential neighborhoods. Environmentalists protested the state's attempts to silence him.

Not here, though. They're content to let a scientist they disagree with be gagged.

 If we're going to use science, we have to be prepared to hear things we don't want to be true.

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