Below is a short article that appeared in the New York Times. It’s not much, a headline and one paragraph, comprised of four sentences. But the implied meanings in this article are telling of the left’s agenda, and the media’s complicity in enabling the left’s campaign of misinformation.
New York Times | U.S. | National Briefing | Midwest |
By the Associated Press, April 11, 2014
Ohio: Geologists Link Earthquakes to Gas Drilling
State geologists have linked earthquakes in a geologic formation deep under the Appalachians to gas drilling, leading Ohio to issue new permit conditions on Friday in certain areas. A state investigation of
five small tremors in the Youngstown area last month has found the high-pressure injection of sand, water and chemicals that accompanies fracking in the Utica Shale may have increased pressure on a small, unknown fault, said Rick Simmers, chief of the oil and gas division of the State Department of
Natural Resources. He called the link probable. While earlier studies had linked earthquakes to a
deep-injection well used for the disposal of fracking wastewater, this is the first time tremors have
been tied directly to fracking, he said.
First there’s the misleading headline; if you were just getting your news from headlines, you would be led to assume that scientists have somehow determined that gas drilling causes earthquakes. I’m a little surprised that the writer of this AP article didn’t use the buzzword “fracking” instead of “gas drilling” in the headline because that would have added more “pop” to it.
Allow us to re-write this article as follows:
“State geologists have [tenuously] linked earthquakes in an [unsubstantiated] geologic formation deep under the Appalachians to gas drilling [a.k.a. “fracking”], leading Ohio to issue new permit conditions on Friday in certain areas.” Notice that all it takes is an unfounded assertion by “scientists” to spur governmental authorities to make up new rules for an industry.
The next is a run-on sentence, but we will correct it as we go:
“[Fracking is] the high-pressure injection of sand, water and chemicals [deep underground.] Five small tremors occurred in the Youngstown area last month. A state investigation has found [conjectured that] fracking in the Utica Shale may have increased pressure on a small, unknown fault, said Rick Simmers, chief of the oil and gas division of the State Department of Natural Resources.” Emphasis added.
“He called the link probable.” Translation: It could happen but we don’t know for sure.
“While earlier studies had [tenuously] linked earthquakes to a deep-injection well used for the disposal of fracking wastewater, this is the first time tremors have been [speciously] tied directly to fracking, [according to Mr. Simmers].”
While it would be exhausting to try to dissect every instance of misinformation, just be aware that a lot of what you read or hear is crafted to mislead you.
To quote the old saw: Forewarned is forearmed.
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