Earlier today, University of Colorado researcher Lisa McKenzie, best known for her debunked study allegedly linking birth defects with oil and gas development, released another study that was promptly smacked down by Colorado’s top medical expert, Dr. Larry Wolk who heads the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. McKenzie’s study used the same flawed methodology as her last study to come to the conclusion that there is a link between childhood cancer and energy development.
Here’s what Dr. Wolk said about the latest study, according to Western Wire:
“In his statement, Wolk says the paper’s ‘lack of a conclusive association’ is the ‘result of many limitations.’ Those limitations include that the research paper ‘relies on administrative data’ instead of actual environmental exposures, he said. The paper ‘compared leukemia cases to other cancer cases, rather than comparison to healthy people which makes findings more difficult to interpret,’ and its conclusions are ‘driven by only 16 cases which significantly limits the strength of the finding,’ Wolk said.
“The paper failed to ‘adequately address additional or alternate explanations for findings, specifically differences in population demographics, smoking history and exposure to other environmental factors,’ Wolk said. The researchers also didn’t have full address histories for patients whose records they reviewed. That’s important because earlier research has shown up to two-thirds of people move during the time period of a study of this kind, he said.”
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association had stern words for the wannabe Erin Brockovich: “university researchers shouldn’t be in the game of scaring people just to secure additional funding.”
The Colorado Petroleum Council’s Tracee Bentley also weighed in on McKenzie’s scare tactics:
“This is a deliberate misuse of data by someone with a political agenda, and we need to stick with the facts. The facts are that Colorado’s oil and natural gas industry works with the state to foster the responsible, balanced development, production, and utilization of the natural resources of oil and gas in the state of Colorado in a manner consistent with protection of public health, safety, and welfare, including protection of the environment and wildlife resources.”
McKenzie has been debunked time and time again, but, sadly, that doesn’t stop the radical environmentalists in our state from citing this fake science when trying to rally the uninformed to their cause. At some point, Coloradans will see through this ruse, hopefully sooner rather than later.