Fracking and Academic Freedom

There is another story, this time in the Boulder Weekly, about the influence of the oil and gas industry on academic freedom and integrity. The piece does a nice job of trying to dig down to questions of what constitutes responsible academic behavior, especially in terms of speech acts to the press, and the role of industry money in academic research. The focus is on Dr. Geoffrey Thyne, who was released from two positions (one at the Colorado School of Mines) and the other at the Wyoming Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute) supposedly for remarks he made that the industry did not like.