{"id":100591,"date":"2025-12-23T14:51:52","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T19:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=100591"},"modified":"2025-12-23T14:51:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T19:51:52","slug":"academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic whose report led to fracking ban questions N.S. government&#8217;s gas claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Devin Stevens A former university president who oversaw the report that led to a decade-long ban on fracking in Nova Scotia is questioning the government\u2019s claims that new natural-gas development will lower emissions and energy prices. On Monday the government said it was putting Dalhousie University in charge of a $30-million program that will see a call for onshore natural-gas exploration in the new year. Officials said new natural-gas development will allow the province to cut back on burning coal for electricity generation and help it hit its 2030 emission targets. David Wheeler was president of Cape Breton University when he chaired an independent group whose 2014 report for the government said fracking shouldn\u2019t be allowed until more research was done on health, environmental and economic impacts. Now an&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F23%2Facademic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Devin Stevens A former university president who oversaw the report that led to a decade-long ban on fracking in Nova Scotia is questioning the government\u2019s claims that new natural-gas development will lower emissions and energy prices. On Monday the government said it was putting Dalhousie University in charge of a $30-million program that will see a call for onshore natural-gas exploration in the new year. Officials said new natural-gas development will allow the province to cut back on burning coal for electricity generation and help it hit its 2030 emission targets. David Wheeler was president of Cape Breton University when he chaired an independent group whose 2014 report for the government said fracking shouldn\u2019t be allowed until more research was done on health, environmental and economic impacts. Now an... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F23%2Facademic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Academic whose report led to fracking ban questions N.S. government&#039;s gas claims - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Academic whose report led to fracking ban questions N.S. government&#039;s gas claims - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Devin Stevens A former university president who oversaw the report that led to a decade-long ban on fracking in Nova Scotia is questioning the government\u2019s claims that new natural-gas development will lower emissions and energy prices. On Monday the government said it was putting Dalhousie University in charge of a $30-million program that will see a call for onshore natural-gas exploration in the new year. Officials said new natural-gas development will allow the province to cut back on burning coal for electricity generation and help it hit its 2030 emission targets. David Wheeler was president of Cape Breton University when he chaired an independent group whose 2014 report for the government said fracking shouldn\u2019t be allowed until more research was done on health, environmental and economic impacts. Now an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-23T19:51:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/23\\\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/23\\\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Academic whose report led to fracking ban questions N.S. government&#8217;s gas claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-23T19:51:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/23\\\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":848,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/23\\\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/23\\\/academic-whose-report-led-to-fracking-ban-questions-n-s-governments-gas-claims\\\/\",\"name\":\"Academic whose report led to fracking ban questions N.S. government's gas claims - 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