Oil Billionaire Attempts to Silence University Quake Researchers [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Oil Billionaire Attempts to Silence University Quake Researchers
May 18, 2015 by Klaus Marre

The recent earthquakes that devastated Nepal highlight the need to find ways to avoid, or at least minimize, these catastrophes when humanly possible. One particular Oklahoma billionaire, engaged in the very activity that may be causing earthquakes in his own backyard, forcefully begs to disagree. And he’s been trying to use his seemingly unlimited resources to get his way.

Fossil fuel partisans in the Sooner State were rattled late last month when the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) released a statement that the rapid increase in the state’s seismic activity was very likely caused by humans—specifically the “injection/disposal of water associated with oil and gas production.”

One billionaire oilman decided to take action—not about the message but about the messengers. Emails exposed by Bloomberg News reveal that Harold Hamm, the founder and CEO of Continental Resources, one of America’s ten biggest energy independents, asked the dean of the University of Oklahoma’s College of Earth and Energy to fire scientists involved with the OGS report, an official publication of the university.

“Mr. Hamm is very upset at some of the earthquake reporting to the point that he would like to see select OGS staff dismissed,” Dean Larry Grillot wrote to a couple of colleagues.

More:
http://whowhatwhy.org/2015/05/18/oil-billionaire-attempts-to-silence-university-scientists/