Historically Leftists derided religion and anything which relied on faith or belief. The position has always been laughable because the same Leftists proffer economic, political, and social theories which rely completely upon belief as well as the ignoring of the evidence of the failure of their efforts and ideas.
In that vein, take this headline from the Dallas Morning News: “Railroad Commission still a nonbeliever on ties between North Texas earthquakes, injection disposal wells.”
Given that the editorial says a “study published recently in the journal Science Advances concludes that high-pressure wastewater injection disposal wells used to bury fluids from hydraulic fracturing activities revived dormant faults near Dallas,” wouldn’t a better headline be “Railroad Commission ignores evidence of ties between North Texas earthquakes, injection disposal wells?”
The editorial continues on with “Like clockwork, the Railroad Commission insists again that this isn’t a conclusive link between earthquake swarms and oil and gas activity.”
It is a predictable attack on an agency taking a slow and scientific approach to the issue to ensure that the passions of the moment do not lead to economic damage.
The quake issue can be debated, and will be, by those with real empirical data but that is not what interests me for the moment. Instead, it is the use of the language by the news outlet that demonstrates how the Left now uses mere opinion or the conclusion of someone with a science credential as a basis for belief, or faith.
Science is more about skepticism and always questioning conclusions than about providing a religion-style litmus test about one’s beliefs.
Science is more about skepticism than belief
In that vein, take this headline from the Dallas Morning News: “Railroad Commission still a nonbeliever on ties between North Texas earthquakes, injection disposal wells.”
Given that the editorial says a “study published recently in the journal Science Advances concludes that high-pressure wastewater injection disposal wells used to bury fluids from hydraulic fracturing activities revived dormant faults near Dallas,” wouldn’t a better headline be “Railroad Commission ignores evidence of ties between North Texas earthquakes, injection disposal wells?”
The editorial continues on with “Like clockwork, the Railroad Commission insists again that this isn’t a conclusive link between earthquake swarms and oil and gas activity.”
It is a predictable attack on an agency taking a slow and scientific approach to the issue to ensure that the passions of the moment do not lead to economic damage.
The quake issue can be debated, and will be, by those with real empirical data but that is not what interests me for the moment. Instead, it is the use of the language by the news outlet that demonstrates how the Left now uses mere opinion or the conclusion of someone with a science credential as a basis for belief, or faith.
Science is more about skepticism and always questioning conclusions than about providing a religion-style litmus test about one’s beliefs.
By the way, Commissioner Christian offered up an opposing point of view from that of the Dallas Morning News editorial board.