Great Quotes of Late from the Shale Gas Hydro Fracking Debate

"This is the worst thing that can happen...  It's chemical genocide.  These people are ultimately dying due to the radiation contamination."

— Toshia Hance of the Town of Augusta, Oneida County, NY,
as quoted by Gary Liberatore of WKTV News Channel 2, Utica, NY,
on July 18, 2011.  (Hance was one of eight Central New Yorkers who took
a bus tour of PA drilling sites — apparently paid for, arranged, organized,
orchestrated, and open-only-to anti-drillers).

"What is most troubling is the suggestion by This American Life that the integrity of our research is a commodity that can be bought and sold.  On the contrary, the veracity of our scholarship is priceless, and serves as the very foundation of our reputation as a research university.  The notion that we would accept a monetary donation in return for favorable research findings is insulting — baseless speculation rooted in a conspiratorial imagination."

— From an official statement issued on behalf of Penn State,
the institution, July 15, 2011. (Responding to a recent radio program
by the NPR-affiliated show, which I did not catch, and which I will not
be tracking down now, because I absolutely cannot stand the pinched
condescending smugness of the voice of its host, Ira Glass.)

"Joining this group requires approval.  The manager has requested that you answer the following question:  Please give us your name, location, and a brief statement about the reason for your interest in the NYRAD discussion group.  Thanks!"

— From the application required prior to joining a
Google [Discussion] Group entitled NYRAD,
or New York Residents Against Drilling. 
(It is said to currently number 216 members.)

"The NYT reporter and his editor consistently shape information to serve their dominant anti-gas narrative by including sensationalistic words like 'ponzi scheme' to stampede opinion, excluding key data, ignoring conflicting opinions, using anonymous, unchallenged sources, inaccurately describing sources to mislead readers, and other sleazy techniques.  The NYT Reporter and his editor do the same thing on their gas beat that Fox News and the House of Murdoch do every day when covering President Obama.  Of course many viewers of Fox and readers of the Drilling Down series get their prejudices and biases confirmed.  But they do not get the truth from this despicable sort of journalism."

— Former head of the PA DEP, John Hanger, in a delicious July 17, 2011 blog post
(calling attention to the fact that New York Times "Public Editor," or Ombudsman,
Arthur Brisbane had the day previously remarkably challenged the Gray Lady's
own recent style in investigative journalism, as practiced specifically by Ian Urbina.) 
[Yes, Hanger had a prior run-in with Urbina.]