Jason Hopkins Immigration and politics reporter
September 23, 2019 8:35 PM ET
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited a “fracking” site in Colorado, and tweeted out a video that purported to show it was releasing toxic emissions.
- However, several hydraulic fracturing experts noted that no fracking was actually taking place at the rig, and that the camera was not showing emissions, but heat signatures.
- A Democratic politician tweeted back at Ocasio-Cortez, telling her that “we do ourselves no favors” when Democrats deny facts and science.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested to her millions of Twitter followers that a “fracking” site she visited was releasing toxic emissions, but experts pointed out that the site is not even fracking, and the video she tweeted about caught heat signatures — not emissions.
Democratic New York Rep. Ocasio-Cortez visited Colorado on Saturday to attend Boulder County’s Truman dinner and headlined a Green New Deal event at Boulder High School. On that same day, she visited a “fracking” site in Broomfield, and tweeted about it.
“I’m in Colorado [with Democrat Rep. Joe Neguse] visiting communities whose air is being poisoned by fracking. What we’re seeing is appalling. Companies are building fracking sites on public lands, across the street from schools + homes. Their toxic emissions are invisible. This camera sees them,” the freshman congresswoman wrote.
Included in her tweet was a video of the fracking facility, along with an infrared camera that, she suggested, caught toxins emanating from the site. The tweet has since garnered over 13,000 retweets.
I’m in Colorado w/ @JoeNeguse visiting communities whose air is being poisoned by fracking.
What we’re seeing is appalling. Companies are building fracking sites on public lands, across the street from schools + homes.
Their toxic emissions are invisible. This camera sees them. pic.twitter.com/Kem0MT1lMj
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 21, 2019
However, oil and gas experts who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed that the images caught on Ocasio-Cortez’s infrared camera were just heat signatures, not toxic emissions. In fact, they also noted that no fracking is even taking place at this particular site.
“Statements regarding an infrared (FLIR) video tweeted by Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez yesterday evening are categorically false. In the short video, the congresswoman claimed to see ‘toxic emissions’ through a camera and stated that the air was being ‘poisoned’ by oil and gas development. In reality, the operations she was viewing have been lauded as among the best anywhere in the United States for their management practices and facility designs that protect air quality, public health and the environment,” Brian Cain, a spokesman for Extraction Oil & Gas, said to the DCNF on Monday.
“Using an infrared camera, the Congresswoman claimed to see ‘invisible emissions,’ when she was actually witnessing a heat signature caused by high-temperature (200-plus degrees) synthetic drilling mud being circulated to the surface against cooler fall temperatures in Broomfield,” Cain continued. “In fact, the camera angle used in the video viewed an area of our site that does not even include a possible source for the types of emissions being claimed.”
The rig is actually electric, which plugs into the grid “like a Tesla,” and is able to operate silently, he said. Around the clock air monitoring is conducted in Broomfield, and all air results are consistently “well below any levels of concern,” according to Cain.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) confirmed that no hydraulic fracturing was taking place in Ocasio-Cortez’s video. Fracking, it added, does not take place until after the hole is drilled and rig work is finished. A spokesman for the association also noted that there can be confusion regarding infrared imaging.
“A Forward-Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) camera like the one being used in the video can identify emissions, but it also picks up thermal differentials, such as heat, so it’s very important that whoever is using the camera is trained to understand and identify the various elements within the image itself,” COGA spokesman Scott Prestidge said Monday to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The image may be black and white, but understanding the shades of gray is pretty important.”
Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Oilfield Services, examined the video and also confirmed that no fracking was taking place.
“The video is of a drilling rig. There is indeed no fracking (hydraulic fracturing) going on at that location. They mention volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) in the video. I suggest they point their same device at a brewery or bakery to see similar levels of emissions if they do indeed have an highly sensitive camera,” Wright said to the DCNF. (RELATED: Overdue Tax Bill For Ocasio-Cortez’s Failed Business Remains Unpaid)
It was a Democrat who appears to have been the first to point out Ocasio-Cortez’s misleading claim.
“Interesting video, but [Ocasio-Cortez] there is no fracking occurring at the site as shown and no way to determine compliance or lack thereof with CO air standards. As Dems, we do ourselves no favors when we ignore science and facts. Happy to discuss energy and the West any time,” Mary Throne, a Wyoming Democratic public service commissioner wrote in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet.
A request for comment was not returned by Ocasio-Cortez’s office.
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She really should have consulted a climate expert like Greta Thunberg before tweeting.
Twitter allows theses fools to out themselves (as the fools they are) before their limited intellect realizes what they have just done.
If they put much (if any) thought to their concepts before they blurted out their ignorance they wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining.
The greatest part about this is I don’t think AOC realizes the laughing stock that she is making herself to be. So, we will have many more risible moments to come.
Sadly she isn’t the only one who is embarrassing the American political scene.
At least Gretta is well scripted and stays on script, making her not funny , but just plain sad.
How long till Rob starts complaining about the proven toxic emissions from fracking sites?
(He is no longer getting past the trash bin) SUNMOD
Depends on how long his mommy put him on time out …
😉
My guess is his mom got upset about him skipping his part time job.
Better that they out themselves so that we know about them, than stay out of sight where they can create unpleasant surprises.
Because Greta can see CO2 with her bare eye-bones! 🙂
I guess that is a symptom of the combination of Autism and Asperger Syndrome that we can’t appreciate. I see dead people they are Climate Warriors.
Our 12 year old granddaughter is on the autistic spectrum, she’s a very sharp cookie with an amazing intellect and, and I love her to bits of course, but she is very, very manipulative, has been since she turned 2 and never grew out of it! She also very single minded and expects everyone to do her bidding, pretty much like Greta actually.
Greta can see co2 so why can’t Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez see non existent emissions caused by fracking?
tonyb
Don’t you love it when AOC puts her foot in her mouth? (She must love foot sandwich)
Especially when she is shooting herself in the foot.
Only opens her stupid gob to change feet..
Correction: see non existent emissions caused by NON fracking
Better still a talking mirror or an echo chamber! She might then get a conversation going that even she could understand.
Joking aside, this is a classic example of what we also have in the UK: politicians with no technological or scientific qualifications or experience simply mouthing what the lobbyist with the loudest mouth and even the best job available for them when they leave Parliament! In fact, apart from a few medical professionals, virtually none of the 650 MP’s in Parliament have any technological or scientific qualifications or work experience! Is it no wonder their Climate Change and many other policy debates now dependent on technology and science are shallow and somewhat meaningless !
After meeting Greta, I’m sure Occasional Cortex can See CO2. Possibly one of the most willingly ignorant people on earth.
I always seek the wisdom of child when in need of advice.
In my view, she needs to consult another type of expert –
commonly known as a shrink!
Cheers
Roger
she should have consulted a third-party whistle blower who claimed illegal immigrant detainees were being forced to drink the fracking water. Ohhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaaammmmmmaa aaaaaaa aaaah
Yeah, but Kenji, water is not the only substance used in fracking. It’s mixed fracking sand, a specific kind of silica sand that is transported to fracking sites in the same kind of rail cars that carry grain and other commodities. Frac sand is much more stable than water.
Frac sand is a type of sand with small, uniform particles. It is injected into the rock formation along with the water used to fracture the rock in the process known as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). The sand is used to prop open the fractures that are created. – https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/what-frac-sand
She has a brain the size of a pea and a volume of knowledge that is microscopic. What did you guys expect from her? She’s a bimbo.
Give her back her youth!
” Their toxic emissions are invisible. This camera sees them,””
How stupid does she think the public is? Invisible means invisible, as she does not indicated that some special camera is being used.
Fracking is NOT criticized for air pollution. She is creating issues that do not exist. As fracking is focused on collecting natural gas for future sale, they are entirely focused on not releasing it to the atmosphere. She is a bartender with the acuity and data base of a bartender, just as Greta is a 16-year old high school sophomore who inly knows the propaganda from her parents. Both are clueless regarding the real world. They just respond to stimuli that match their narrow mind views.
For Pete’s sake, Charles, she has to get attention somehow!!! She can’t live without it!!!
LOL!!!!
Science – the final frontier – for progressives
Ignorant witch.
[ Carbon, I removed your comment because it was needlessly misogynistic. It’s something I almost never do, removing a comment, but it was unpleasantly anti-women.
There are lots of places that discuss those ideas, but WUWT is not one of them. Here we discuss the science.
I trust you will both understand and excuse my effrontery in removing your comment.
Best regards,
w. ]
Why am I no longer surprised by the idiocy of the liberal left politicians ? lol
A request for comment was not returned by Ocasio-Cortez’s office.”
Of course not. The damage has been done.
Another case of toxic omissions.
I doubt AOC is in her office much, if at all.
Nice that aoc journeys to Colorado, (I bet she flew there on the government dime), to interfere with Colorado regulations; without bothering to do much work for her New York Constituency.
Did she ride a bike to get from DC to Colorado?
And I bet she flew there! HYPOCRITE liberals drive me nutty!
Broomsticks have zero emissions.
Not when powered by pulsejet :<)
To detect and measure VOCs she needs an FTIR not a FLIR.
Or a GC with TCD and FID,
and a TOC
OK
Or a clue.
Or a not lonely brain cell……
We use GC-MS.
As for FTIR, I just saw a new one at the Shenyang Aerospace University that can report once per second. It has astonishing computational power.
Li’l “ol me? I have an FLIR camera that clicks into a USB-C phone jack. It can see “fracking toxins” too, if they’re hot…
You should turn it on the next gathering of Climate Warriors, Crispin – and become famous for finding a previously undetected major toxic waste dump.
I think Writing Observer has a great idea, and I do mean that! Not being sarcastic about it!
Go to a get-together of climate warriors and use something that will measure local CO2, before and when the group gets together. Do it both outodoors and indoors in a lecture hall or theater. No, I’m not kidding. Take those measurements before the crowd arrives, photograph them, and then do the same when the crowd is assembled. You don’t even have to be shy about it, just say it’s about climate change, because they’ll groove on it. You could even ask a few to give you personal samples of their CO2 production levels.
What’s the point? That they produce enough CO2 by themselves to throw off the O2/CO2 exchange balance, or some such thing that sounds scientifically correct to them. It’s a valid experiment that might even deserve grant money if it’s worded properly.
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing…” but downright stupidity is laughable.
I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that applies to AOC and her ilk:
“AI Is No Match For Natural Stupidity”
LOL
The more Occasional Crouton spews gibberish, the more I cannot believe she was ever a mixologist! Probably poisoned half her clients at that bar she is supposed to have worked at. Her astounding lack of intelligent thought rivals that Swedish little Twit.
are they really this stupid…..yes
…will a whole lot of people fall for it….absolutely
will anyone read the truth…..no
This video of hers rivals some of the flat earth videos I watch for entertainment. Such a special camera.
Stories like this made possible by the corrupt fake news mainstream media that refuses to challenge liberal idiocy.
AOC should pay her way overdue corporate taxes from 2012-13! The state of New York issued a tax warrant in July 2017 against Brook Avenue Press, a Bronx-based children’s books publisher Ocasio-Cortez founded in 2012, for $1,618.36 in unpaid corporate taxes. The taxes remain unpaid, even though AOC’s congressional salary is $174,000/year.
http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2019/09/overdue-tax-bill-for-ocasio-cortezs-failed-business-remains-unpaid/
She may have know idea that she is telling lies, but whoever gave her the FLIR and sent here out there does.
Perhaps, but they probably are also ignorant on the function of scientific measuring devices.
They may have learned from sciency sounding Hollywood that such sorts of devices ought to exist(heck, Ghost Busters used them) but are utterly clueless as well.
Sadly their idiocy prevents them from realizing they could ask somebody who actually uses theses things how they work and which ones they’ll need.
Maybe, maybe not. It’s hard to tell how much is ignorance and how much is deceit with these people. But the big news outlets have the resources to have knowledgeable people on staff (or at least on call), so they have no excuse.
Remember just a short while ago, she went to protest the plight of illegal immigrants. She was caught up getting emotionally distraught at the sight of an empty parking lot. That was an Instant Classic.
Her handlers do know how to stage a media event, complete with photo-ops.
She is known today as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. When she was in college, “Sandy Cortez” was good enough. What is that all about?
She is amazingly thick and at the same times completely sure she cannot be wrong .
What the experimentalists said of the theoreticians…
Often in error, never in doubt.
That is a hallmark of true stupidity: You are too stupid to realize you are stupid.
Dunning Kruger.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
Bertrand Russell
that is the result of our public education, kids are being taught facts dont matter, there is no truth,only your feeling matter.
Conversely, the facts don’t care how you feel about them. There is simply no reciprocity in the universe!
She possesses the certainty that is only possible for a moron.
They need to point the same camera at her to catch all the CO2 and hot air she is exhaling into the pristine Colorado air.
She’s the gift that keeps on giving. Her idiocy has no bounds.
AOC entire mission is about passing on false information that makes others look bad. She knows the MSM will never call her out on it so her followers will never hear the truth. Only the opposition will know the real story.
To be fair, if you watch the video, it’s actually some guy “explaining” to her what she’s seeing. She was lied to, but of course she believed it, because fracking is “bad”.
Actually, these were lies she sought out. You can be pretty sure that ‘some guy’ was chosen for two reasons – one, that he would provide her just what she wanted. Second, that she could attribute the information to someone else.
That last one is a tactic among people who try to lend weight to their own viewpoints by implanting the ‘monkey-see/monkey-do, simply EVERYONE says so’ mechanism.
Yep, would appear those around her are actually tasked with undermining her political ambitions even more swiftly than she can by herself
An ignorant but wise individual will surround themselves with knowledgeable people and learn from them.
A fool will surround themselves with clowns so as not to appear as clownish.
It’s really too bad that politics not science decides how one is supposed to view AGW. Personally I think it’s way over done. But unfortunately, how one feels about this issue seems to require other beliefs that have nothing to do with this topic. It really is possible to be liberal on some issues and still believe that AGW is overrated. I guess one could be more conservative and see this as an important concern as well. One issue politics has never been good for the country.
Exactly the reason why founders like George Washington were adamant about there being no political parties at all. He knew people in general were unthinking sheep.
AOC must have a special FLIR camera. The “FL” in her FLIR camera stands for Flummoxed Liberal.
Regards,
Bob
This is too funny. The sad part is how the main stream news can sit silent with a straight face and report on all this while the likes of AOC and Lil Miss Greta make fools of themselves and the left they represent. If I was a leftist, I would be downright embarrassed to be represented by AOC who is really clueless about anything. She is just plain stupid and thick as a brick intellectually. Greta can be excused for having been raised in that leftist toxic environment as a special needs autistic child, who clearly hasn’t matured physically or intellectually and is deficient to be able to form any real coherent world view, other than she has been intensely brainwashed since her early childhood. That should be a crime of major child abuse and now she is infecting normal pre-teens and teenagers everywhere with the assistance of the UN/leftist cause.
AOC hasn’t done ANYBODY any favors.
AOC doing a GT?
Now that the Democratic party has been infiltrated and taken over by Progressives we can expect more of this nonsense. The Democrats are being hoisted on their own petard.
For the record, because it is so interesting, a petard is a bomb. One is “hoisted by it” if one is clumsy and sets if off accidentally.
For a long time I thought it was a lanyard of some kind, a rope, in the sense of hanging oneself. It really means to blow your self … upwards. It has become more common of late in political circles.
It actually meant being blown up ( hoist ) on your own mortar ( petard ) because it had failed to fire and you were clearing it ( muzzle loader ). You had but to ask….
“Hoist with his own petard” is a phrase from a speech in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet that has become proverbial. The phrase’s meaning is literally that the bomb-maker is blown up by his own bomb, and indicates an ironic reversal, or poetic justice.