Frackademics: Shale Institute’s Jacobi hired to do seismic study for DEC

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has chosen Robert Jacobi, a University at Buffalo geologist with ties to the natural gas industry, to study the link between fracking and earthquakes, a DEC spokeswoman told Bloomberg’s Jim Esftathiou, Jr. Jacobi, who is a senior advisor to gas driller EQT Production and who runs a geoscience consultancy, …

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PAI Statement on UB’s Closing of Shale Institute

Statement of Kevin Connor, director of the Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) on the closing of UB’s Shale Resources and Society Institute* The University at Buffalo took an important stand for principles of academic integrity and transparency with its decision to shutter the Shale Institute today. The decision sends a strong message to the oil and …

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University at Buffalo rejects call for transparency at Shale Institute

The controversy surrounding the University at Buffalo’s shale institute continued to grow yesterday, with the university’s administration rebuffing a new coalition’s calls for transparency at the institute. Last month, PAI released a report identifying significant errors and distortions in a report released by the University at Buffalo’s brand-new Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI). The …

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New York Times Covers UB Shale Institute Controversy

The New York Times published an article today on the growing controversy surrounding the UB Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI) report on horizontal hydraulic fracturing, which was sparked in part by PAI’s analysis of the report. From the article: A report from a new institute at the State University at Buffalo asserting that state …

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UB Shale Institute Story Continues to Develop

PAI’s analysis of the University at Buffalo Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI) report on fracking’s environmental impacts has been covered in a number of media outlets since its release two weeks ago, and the report’s lead author, the University, and the chancellor of SUNY have all responded in some form or another. (more…)

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