"Last week the University of Texas provost announced he would re-examine a report by a UT professor that said fracking was safe for groundwater after the revelation that the professor pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Texas natural gas developer. It's the latest fusillade in the ongoing battle over the basic facts of fracking in America."

"BEIJING – The worst rainstorm to hit the Chinese capital in six decades has given rise to widespread anger against officials who are accused of censoring the scope of massive floods."

For years, controversy has been raging over what little 'science' there is on questions related to the environmental and health impacts of the hydraulic fracturing boom. The scientific controversies may be a proxy for the conflict over the gas-extraction method itself. Billions of dollars are at stake, the debate is getting ever more intense, and its intensity challenges the objectivity of scientists, government regulators, and journalists.

"Environmental health experts, advocates and legislators convened at Yale University on Tuesday to discuss the use of man-made pesticides and the health risks they pose, especially to children. One of the main topics of conversation: pest control marketing campaigns that appear to target children."

"Congressional investigators said Monday that the chief counsel’s office at the Food and Drug Administration authorized wide-ranging surveillance of a group of the agency’s scientists, the first indication that the effort was sanctioned at the highest levels."

"WASHINGTON — Federal health officials faced pressure from Capitol Hill and outside groups on Monday to investigate a wide-ranging surveillance program that the Food and Drug Administration mounted against a group of its scientists who raised warnings about the safety of medical imaging devices."