More, Grossly Deceptive Reporting From The BBC
By Paul Homewood
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-33211020
The BBC have been up to their tricks again.
A US environmental group has written to Lancashire County Council urging it to refuse permission to allow test drilling for fracking.
The letter, signed by 850 elected officials in New York State, comes days before the council decides whether to approve test drilling at two locations….
Elected Officials to Protect New York – made up of current and former politicians – has written to Lancashire’s councillors asking them to note the findings of a two-year study by New York State Department of Public Health.
In fact, the letter was not signed by “850 elected officials”, but just 10, not all of whom are elected either.
http://www.nyelectedofficials.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/EOPNY-Letter-to-Lancashire.pdf
Many are no more than what we would call parish councillors. For instance, Cooperstown boasts an impressive population of just 1852, yet offers us two trustees to sign.
They have written the letter on behalf of a ragtag bunch of anti fracking lobbyists, called “Elected Officials to Protect New York”. They claim to have 850 members, though the website offers no confirmation or list to back this up.
Apparently, the other 840, if they exist, could not be bothered to sign the letter.
New York state has a population of over 19 million, so a collection of even 850 town and parish councillors is barely scratching the surface.
There is also evidence that some of these are not quite the “non-partisan” grouping they claim to be.
For instance, we find that Susan Zimet was out protesting in an Occupy Rally in 2012.
http://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/chronogram-seen-april-2012/Content?oid=2131635
The BBC, of course, would like you to believe that hundreds of top rank New York politicians from all parties feel it their duty to warn us of the perils of fracking.
While it’s moaning time, take another look at the picture at the top.
Now, why would they decide to use a photo with dirty, black clouds around? Is it an attempt to leave a subliminal message connecting fracking with smoke and pollution? Surely our publically funded BBC would not stoop to such trickery?
But there again, scroll down their report, and we find this grossly misleading image of a fracking well, one that they have shown in the past.
The impression given, quite deliberately in my view, is that the fracking is taking place just a few feet from the water table, and not thousands of feet below, as is the case.
Sadly, none of this BBC bias comes as any surprise nowadays.
FOOTNOTE
As notes, two of the signatories are trustees for the tiny village of Cooperstown. According to the Cooperstown Crier last year:
Turnout was low Tuesday for three unopposed village elections.
Mayor Jeff Katz, Deputy Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh and Trustee Lou Allstadt were all re-elected. There were 109 total voters, 94 on Tuesday plus 15 absentee ballots. Katz and Tillapaugh, who are Democrats, each received 103 votes while Allstadt, running as an independent but cross-endorsed, got 99 votes, 76 on the Democratic line and 23 on the Republican line. Frank Cappoza got one write-in vote for his former position as trustee.
Only 100 people voted in 2013, when Allstadt, Bruce Maxson and Joan Nicols ran unopposed for trustee positions. About 200 people voted in 2012 when Katz ran unopposed for mayor and Cindy Falk and Jim Dean ran unopposed for trustee positions.
99 votes, and unopposed!
Apparently the BBC think the views of people such as these have the slightest relevance for the inhabitants of Lancashire.
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
I was interviewed on BBC Radio Manchester last week about our protest against the application to extend Scout Moor wind farm near our home. I was warned before the interview that the studio interviewer would play devil’s advocate. Interestingly, they interviewed a local renewables company before me and didn’t ask one question but just let let them make the point that onshore subsidies are much cheaper than offshore ones, forgetting to mention how conventional fossil power costs a fraction to produce with no subsidies. However, when it got to me I was accused of being a nimby, not knowing where more renewables would come from if not wind and too worried about the impact on the great crested newt – which I categorically did not bring up! The location interviewer, was much fairer and spent some time with us after the interview to find out more. She mentioned putting our concerns to investigative reporters on the Inside Out program but I explained how the BBC operates and that we wouldn’t be holding our breath. Not surprisingly I have heard nothing yet.
The BBC long ago
Stopped reporting the news;
Now it’s just a conduit
For opinions and views.
http://rhymeafterrhyme.net/tilting-at-windmills-its-time-to-stop/
“In fact, the letter was not signed by “850 elected officials”, but just 10, not all of whom are elected either.”
It’s not even that!
The first is an ex-‘Councilmember’.
That report has to be one of Aunty’s most insidious stunts.
BBC News today had a long report from a BMA committee stating that global warming of 4 C would occur by 2050 and kill thousands. No comment about how many will die from cold and electricity price poverty by then, but of course its all balanced and unbiased reporting!
Wish I didn’t believe that the “believers” lobby was winning the global warming battle, but Goebbels had nothing on the UK media .
Since when did the BMA know anything about climate change modelling and forecasting?!
Is it not possible that we can inform people taken in by this clap trap from the MoBeeb?
I despair at the way the vast majority are so conned!!
“For instance, Cooperstown boasts an impressive population of just 1852, yet offers us two trustees to sign.”
Most of the village of Cooperstown lies within the town of Otsego, the town of the ex-councilmember Joe Public pointed out.
The bias of the BBC confirmed by ex-employee
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3135408/DAMIAN-THOMPSON-Shock-Horror-BBC-boss-admits-s-biased.html
Should anyone consider complaining to the Beeb, it’s easy:
https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/?reset=#anchor
Takes about 10 minutes. If enough of us take the trouble, disquiet will appear in their management logs & sooner or later, someone will take note. An MP’s FOI enquiry will concentrate their minds.
Remember – their initial standard response will be a rejection; simply persevere, & the complaint will be escalated. Their 2nd line of defence is a Complaints Director
BBC Editorial Complaints Unit.
Their ‘Maginot Line’ is The Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) of the BBC Trust. They provide a higher quality rejection.
From experience I know the BBC will say they were perfectly correct in all they said on the subject. But a complaint has been made.
They’ll quote this section of the letter:
Whilst that might be their response to the letter, it won’t answer the complaint about allowing foreigners whose fracking legislation is different to the UK’s to influence UK energy policy; nor will it explain why Aunty chose to use a misleading fracking diagram.
Paul, that is not quite so bad as this one over the Bishop’s forum.
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2015/6/23/is-this-a-joke.html
There is also the fact that they say “New York” in the headline, but this has next to nothing to do with the city.
The state is called New York, and the city is called New York City. But why would they want to appear to represent the City? Can’t recall any fracking going on in the Big Apple!
Through gritted teeth:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/23/weak-sun-could-offset-some-global-warming-europe-us-study
“It was the sun what done it” who would have thought it? Of course spinning it as sun hides global warming (temporarily) was always a predictable spin.
Those interfering Yanks should have been given the shortest of shrift. (Imagine Lancashire councillors sticking their oar into a NY policy issue!) It was absurd posturing designed, as almost always is the case, to generate negative press for fracking.
I sincerely hope fracking is allowed and performs better than we had ever believed. Can you imagine the howls of protest from the Greens? It would be beautiful.
As a interfering Yank, I would like to say that in no manner do I endorse the charade brought forth by the Lancashire councilors. We are fighting a war against the U.N, the government of the USA and the governments of other countries in the propagation of the Anti-science of Anthropogenic Climate change. That being said, we do have valid concerns on the risks of fracking that is backed by good science. I would like to merely warn you that careful consideration must be given when analyzing the geology and methodology of how fracking is to be deployed when you engage in the utilization of fracking. Otherwise it is possible you may introduce earthquakes into a region of prior stability, just as we did in Oklahoma, USA.
First, maybe we should post pictures of the clear blue skies over Wyoming and North Dakota, where fracking is everywhere.
Second, if you want this to stop, the only way I know of is to stop selling fracked gas to anyone who protests fracking. Shut off gas to the homes of protesters if any of the delivered gas is fracked. And certainly stop selling fracked gas to New York. Since a large portion of the gas we produced is from fracking, we can find out just how cold and dark New York is willing to be to avoid fracking. We shouldn’t be selling to these people anyway. They are opposed to the process and we are violating their beliefs by selling to them.
Reblogged this on Tallbloke's Talkshop and commented:
It’s obvious that whatever controls are supposed to be in place to ensure the BBC is ‘impartial’ – admittedly difficult to define, but you know when you’re not seeing it – are not working.
Lancashire CC has been warned it is likely to lose a legal challenge on appeal and will incur costs as a result.
http://www.thegwpf.com/lancashire-council-likely-to-lose-appeal-if-it-rejects-fracking/