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The Professor and The Search Engine

A professor at Cornell is at odds with a major internet search engine: he accuses Google of helping the gas lobby support hydraulic fracturing.  Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas looked into that allegation...

In a 2011 Cornell University study, Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology Robert Howarth warned that extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale via hydrofracking could do more to aggravate global warming than mining coal.  Howarth's findings were published in scientific journals as well as The New York Times.'

Howarth's paper was also noticed by the gas lobby and ANGA, Americas' Natural Gas Alliance. ANGA used advertising on the search engine Google, allegedly to discredit Howarth and his work.  The ANGA ad was tailored to appear as if it were the top search result whenever Professor Howarth's name was typed into the Google search page.

Some called the ad "unethical" - Howarth says he tried to avoid confrontations at first by "sticking to his science" but after several months he found the ad might be harming his reputation.

Robert Sumner,The Director of Communications for America’s Natural Gas Alliance, responded to a request for comment with an emailed statement, -quote-

"Dr. Howarth’s study has been discredited by numerous institutions and highly credible experts... Howarth’s work has even been rebuked by his own colleagues at Cornell University. ANGA is committed to having a fact-based, science-based conversation about the safe and responsible development of natural gas as a critical component of any forward-looking domestic energy policy. Dr. Howarth’s work fails to meet this standard.”

Professor Larry Brown chairs the department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell: he co-authored a paper that found flaws in Howarth's work. Howarth made several attempts but was not able to connect with anyone at Google - Howarth calls the experience "new terrain".

Do search engines like Google and Bing have any responsibility to the public to consider the way certain interests can leverage search results to their own advantage? Fred Dintenfass is an SEO strategist at Path Interactive in New York City... he gives his point of view.

Professor Brown defends Howarth's right to publish his work.

Google did not respond to requests for comment.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.