Local scientist defends her work
How many Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb ? Wait, don’t answer that. It would probably constitute a “hate crime.”
Try this one instead. How many Marcellus Shale Task Force members does it take to arrange for three speakers to talk at a public forum about Marcellus drilling? Apparently in the neighborhood of 35 or more. Talk about large bureaucracies.
Last week, KDKA-TV news in Pittsburgh ran a segment stating some Marcellus shale drilling companies are pulling out of Pennsylvania due to low gas prices and the cumbersome politics they have encountered, especially in the southwestern region of the state (that’s us).
Fayette County Commissioner Angela Zimmerlink’s task force is directly involved in those politics, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. The task force assumes an aura of implied respect and intellectual authority simply due to its existence and fancy name.
You probably envision a panel of experts sitting there figuring out the truth so they can they pass that knowledge on to the community, essentially, to lead the community, based on their extraordinary insight. There are tens of thousands of groups across America investigating every aspect of life anymore. Should citizens not first judge whether or not a particular group of people investigating something has the credentials to actually be passing judgment on the issues they are investigating?
If you accept blindly that members of a task force must know what they’re doing, then you are saying you are willing to accept their information and conclusions without exercising any critical judgment on your own part. If they are wrong, how will you know it?
If they whitewash information they don’t understand themselves and pass it on, will you be able to tell whether its true? If they make unfounded claims disguised by lofty rhetoric, or prevent discussion of critical issues for fear of offending someone’s feelings, or worse, to control the outcome, will you be able to see through the smokescreen to comprehend the real truth, or do you just plan to sit back and take someone else’s word for it?
Have any of you ever actually seen this Marcellus Shale Task Force? Have any of you heard any of their members speak about Marcellus issues? Have you talked with any of them? For the most part, you would likely answer no. It’s been nearly seven months now since the task force was organized, which is longer than a semester at college.
Zimmerlink has told you no more today about the techniques, successes, and failure modes of hydraulic fracturing and the risk factors associated with it than she could July 19, the day before the task force was formed. She tells you that speakers have spoken at two forums, but what was the content of what they said, Angela? And most importantly were they credible?
If the purpose of the task force is just to bring speakers in and let the public listen to them, then you don’t need a task force for that. You just need a secretary. What is your position regarding Marcellus drilling operations in Fayette County? I think it’s time you answer that question since you’ve been dodging it for over a year.
You’ve been listening and learning for sometime now yet you still have no opinion about whether drilling should continue or cease? When’s that going to happen? How many years will it take to educate you to the level where you will express an opinion on this issue?
In my professional opinion, with the exception of two people, the members of the Environmental Committee are not qualified by either education or experience to be passing judgment on the scientific, engineering and technical aspects of Marcellus drilling. If the committee members recognize their individual limitations, and publicly acknowledge them, thus limiting their comments to areas they can demonstrate reasonable understanding of, then they may have something relevant to say.
If they step beyond those bounds by making assertions they cannot support or defend, then they must be challenged. If they allow speakers to make inaccurate and false statements to audiences of Fayette County citizens without challenging those statements, then they have provided a disservice by their silence. If they simply rephrase and repeat the same questions and complaints that have been bandied about for over a year now, then they have learned nothing and their work product is meaningless.
I understand some task force members are challenging my credentials as a scientist. I will put my thesis, dissertation, publications, and successes in my work history before all of you to judge. I will place my successes in industry on display. My professors always told me I was easily among the top 10 percent of scientists in the world, and if I wanted, I could be among the top 1 percent. Bring on your challenges. If you must judge me before you can judge my opinion of the task force, then judge my work and successes for its content. I’ll stand behind it.
The initial structure of the task force and its committees should have allowed for more mature and professional persons who could set their biases aside and focus on the pursuit of the truth. As it is structured now, it is simply stuck in a rut going in circles.
Karen Jensen is a resident of Farmington.