It looks like the Dallas Gas Drilling Task Force may be getting stacked to favor polluters. The task force member selection committee interviewed the first set of 10 candidates on Tuesday 6/14. My impressions are that five of the candidates are solidly in favor of the drilling industry (Brian "Patrick" Shaw, Bruce Bullock, Scott Deatherage, John McCall, Jon C. Napper). Two more appear to have some ties favoring the industry, Frank Lopez due to the American Lung Association - Chesapeake Energy relationship and Margaret Keliher who stated a concern for economic development. Two of three remaining candidates so far interviewed, Cherelle Blazer and Marc McCord, are involved in local environmental groups. The remaining candidate is Dr. David Sterling who studies public health and toxicology. My guess is that Dr. Sterling is admirably committed to academic integrity, but the rigors of science may prevent him from inferring relationships between public health issues and gas drilling simply because atmospheric emissions are largely unmonitored and fracking fluid toxins remain undisclosed.

If seven of the 10 candidates so far interviewed do indeed support gas drilling, then hopes are slim for a task force not biased in their favor. The 10 remaining candidates are scheduled to be interviewed at 2pm Tuesday 6/21 in City Hall room 6ES.