So we’re going to have all kinds of political litmus tests for universities now?

Michael McGrady reports at Red Alert Politics.

University of Colorado under fire for reported ties to fracking industry

The University of Colorado (CU) is known for its climate and energy research and support for sustainability, even announcing new environmentally friendly programs for the CU Buffaloes football stadium this year. That reputation has come into question however, after an investigation by the Boulder Weekly and Greenpeace USA claimed the university is fronting a fracking public relations scheme.

The Boulder Weekly published a two-part investigation that came to be known as “Frackademia,” uncovering a supposed relationship between the fracking industry and the University of Colorado.

“I like to imagine this political sleight of hand as a massive network of loudspeakers mounted on poles in every community across the state,” wrote Joel Dyer, the author of the article that brought the CU partnership to light.

“Every few minutes the same message blares out over the speakers: ‘oil and gas and fracking are good for you because jobs, economy, freedom, American flag, natural gas is the new green, Middle East terrorists … blah, blah, blah,’” Dyer continued.

The majority of the controversy is primarily fixated around the CU Leeds School of Business and the organization, Common Sense Policy Roundtable (CSPR). The two entities, allegedly, have teamed up to control the public opinion on fracking in the state.

Greenpeace argues that the partnership was made to create economic studies that benefit the fracking industry’s image, such as one 2014 study conducted by CU researchers which found that chemicals in fracking fluid were no more toxic than common household substances.

Another study from the Leeds School indicated that fracking is a vital source of economic development for Colorado, and that resource extraction is concentrated in only a few areas of the state.