dunceI often wonder if anybody actually reads our modest, quasi-weekly offerings. They do! And they respond! To criticize!  I earn my keep being “critiqued” by impatient judges, aggressive opposing counsel and, occasionally, less-than-happy clients, so – challenge accepted.

“Critique” One:

Lipsky was not Range’s lessor, therefor I know nothing about the case. Surely, this person lives in my house, where I enjoy a long history of knowing nothing about anything. (Memo to self: check progress on subpoena for kids’ “sent” box). And the inquisitor is as adept as my beloved family in drawing expansive and incorrect conclusions from meager evidence.

As for Mr. Lipsky, he was a nearby landowner and not a lessor.  But the point – and the lesson – remain the same: His big mouth spread accusations that Range says are untrue. Range wanted to put a stop to it and was partially rebuked. Whether against a lessor or a stranger, it will be more difficult than in the past for anyone to use litigation as a tool to quash criticism.

“Critique” Two:

The EPA did not find Lipsky’s claims to be false, says our inquisitor. To evaluate this one, let’s use the time-honored, citizen-friendly, and court-validated process invoked by the TCPA: Can the reader draw rational inferences from circumstantial evidence in determining what the EPA believed about Mr. Lipsky’s claims?

What Really Happened?

The Railroad Commission ordered Range to test its gas, launched an investigation, and held a formal hearing – in which Mr. Lipsky and the EPA were invited to participate (they declined). The RRC considered scientific testimony on “geology, hydrogeology, microseismic analysis, hydraulic fracturing, geochemical gas fingerprinting, and petroleum engineering” and determined that gas in Mr. Lipsky’s water well was most likely from the Strawn formation, found at 200 to 400 feet, and not the Barnett Shale, from which the Range wells produced at 7,000+/- feet, and that Range’s wells did not contribute to the contamination. Shortly thereafter, the EPA – declining to explain why – withdrew its earlier finding that Range’s wells were an imminent and substantial endangerment to a public drinking water aquifer. The inquisitor blames “political pressure”.

A Quiz:

Who had the motive and stroke to apply “political pressure” on the EPA to withdraw its report?

A.  EPA BFF then-Gov. Rick Perry

B. Sen. Ted “Hands Across the Aisle” Cruz

B. Al Armendariz

C. The ghost of George Mitchell

Who is it?

Who is our nemesis, the avenger of truth, the harbinger of a world purified by its abstinence from hydrocarbons? The inquisitor claimed to be “Sharon Wilson”. Given the anger revealed in the communications and on a certain Website, I assume it is “Texas Sharon”. Those running for high office adhere to a cardinal rule: Never name your adversary. However, this is a public service. When you hear a story, consider the source. Get to know Texas Sharon as a source. Then draw your own inferences, rational or otherwise.

Answer to the Quiz:

Nobody. It was a trick question. My “inference”: The EPA realized they were wrong and, wisely, drug the report off into a gloomy corner of the bureaucratic netherworld where it died, alone and abandoned, shorn of its misshapen graphs, charts and footnotes.

In the name of “debate”, we have this musical interlude.

Invasion Update:

The dog barked last night; thought I heard the rumble of tanks from the invasion. Turned out it was just thunder.