{"id":51544,"date":"2013-07-19T08:49:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T07:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/gen-david-petraeus-course-syllabus-features-frackademia-readings\/51544\/"},"modified":"2013-07-19T08:49:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T07:49:40","slug":"gen-david-petraeus-course-syllabus-features-frackademia-readings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/gen-david-petraeus-course-syllabus-features-frackademia-readings\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen. David Petraeus\u2019 Course Syllabus Features \u201cFrackademia\u201d Readings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Records obtained by\u00a0DeSmogBlog\u00a0<\/em>pertaining to\u00a0City University of New York (CUNY)\u00a0Macaulay Honors College\u2019s hiring of former head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) David Petraeus to teach a seminar this coming fall reveal that his\u00a0syllabus<\/a>\u00a0features two of the most well-known \u201cfrackademia<\/a>\u201d studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrackademia\u201d is shorthand for oil and gas industry-funded research costumed as independent economics or science covering the topic of\u00a0hydraulic fracturing (\u201cfracking\u201d)<\/a>, the controversial horizontal drilling process via which oil and gas is obtained deep within shale rock basins.<\/p>\n

According to the syllabus, Petraeus will devote two weeks\u00a0to energy alone, naming those weeks \u201cThe Energy Revolution I\u201d and \u201cThe Energy Revolution II.\u201d\u00a0The two \u201cfrackademia\u201d studies Petraeus will have his students read for his course\u00a0titled \u201cThe Coming North American Decade(s)?<\/a>\u00a0are both seminal industry-funded works.<\/p>\n

One of them is a study\u00a0written by\u00a0industry-funded National Economic Research Associates (NERA)<\/a>\u00a0concluding liquified natural gas (LNG) exports are beneficial to the U.S. economy, despite the fact that exporting fracked gas will raise domestic home-heating and manufacturing prices. NERA was founded by \u201cfather of deregulation\u201d Alfred E. Kahn. The study Petraeus will have his students read was contracted out by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to NERA.<\/p>\n

The other, a study written by then-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research professor\u00a0Ernest Moniz<\/a>\u00a0– now the head of the DOE \u2014 is titled \u201cThe Future of Natural Gas\u201d and also covers LNG exports. DOE oversees the permitting process for LNG exports. That study was funded by the Clean Skies Foundation, a front group for Chesapeake Energy and covered in-depth in the\u00a0Public Accountability Initiative<\/em>\u2018s report titled, \u201cIndustry Partner or Industry Puppet?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Noticeably absent from the reading list: studies tackling the\u00a0climate impacts<\/a>,\u00a0air quality impacts<\/a>, over-arching ecological impacts such as\u00a0water contamination<\/a>,wastewater impacts<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0supply issues (aka diminishing supply)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Together, the two crucial studies on the syllabus reading list \u2014 and the lack of critical readings on the topic of fracking \u2014 offers a gimpse into the stamp of legitimacy industry-funded studies get when they have the logo of elite research universities on them. It\u2019s also another portrayal of the ascendancy of the corporate university.<\/p>\n

From \u201cPetraeusgate\u201d to \u201cFrackademia\u201d-gate<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the case of Petraeus, the original \u201cPetraeusgate<\/a>\u201d scandal centered around the$200,000 fee the Honors College planned on paying him<\/a>\u00a0for his role as an adjunct professor set to teach one course. A\u00a0normal CUNY Honors College adjunct receives $3,000 per course<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recently, Petraeus \u2014 who the late\u00a0Rolling Stone\u00a0<\/em>investigative\u00a0journalist Michael Hastings\u00a0pejoratively\u00a0referred to as \u201cKing David<\/a>\u201d in reference to the role he played in implementing counterinsurgency doctrine in U.S.-occupied Iraq \u2014 took a pay cut down to $1 to teach the course. That doesn\u2019t include the money he\u2019ll still get from an unidentified \u201cprivate donor\u201d referred to in other documents.<\/p>\n

That scandal sat on top of the scandal that led to his resignation from the CIA in the first place:\u00a0an extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell<\/a>, who at the time of the affair was writing a biography about him titled, \u201cAll In: The Education of General David Petraeus<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petraeus Teaches Frackers Counterinsurgency, Psychological Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n

Petraeus has also taught the shale gas industry some important things, as well.<\/p>\n

Namely, Petraeus was one of the co-authors of the \u201cCounterinsurgency (COIN)\u00a0Field Manual<\/a>\u201d that Anadarko Petroleum PR hand Matt Carmichael said he has employees read\u00a0at the \u201cMedia & Stakeholder Relations: Hydraulic Fracturing Initiative 2011\u201d conference<\/a>\u00a0in Houston, TX in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cDownload the U.S. Army\/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Manual because we are dealing with an insurgency,\u201d\u00a0said Carmichael at the conference<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good lessons in there, and coming from a military background, I found the insight in that extremely remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the key COIN tactics covered in the Field Manual is\u00a0psychological operations (PSYOPs), also discussed at the Houston conference<\/a>\u00a0by Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have several former PSYOPs folks that work for us at Range because they\u2019re very comfortable in dealing with localized issues and local governments,\u201d\u00a0Pitzarella said to the audience in Houston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally all they do is spend most of their time helping folks develop local ordinances and things like that. But very much having that understanding of PSYOPs in the Army and in the Middle East has applied very helpfully here for us in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Hastings covered in another\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0investigation, the\u00a0U.S. military employed PSYOPs tactics on members of Congress<\/a>. That\u2019s\u00a0illegal within U.S. borders under the\u00a0Smith-Mundt Act of 1948<\/a>, though it seems rather unlikely the co-author of the COIN Manual \u2014 \u201cKing David\u201d himself\u00a0– will cover these details in his course.<\/p>\n

Petraeus\u2019 Wall Street Job Description Mirrors His Course Description<\/strong><\/p>\n

Petraus also has a\u00a0teaching gig at University of Southern California (USC)<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0day job working at the Wall Street firm\u00a0<\/a>Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is expected to advise on economic trends, issues with foreign governments and other matters that could affect transactions,\u201d\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0<\/em>explained of his hiring at KKR<\/a>.\u00a0\u201dHe will advise firms owned by KKR in an effort to improve management and leadership and help them confront economic and geopolitical forces that affect them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKing David\u2019s\u201d job description mirrors the course description he will teach, lending insight into what type of jobs the students taking his course may obtain in the future if Petraeus\u2019 class is a pedagogical success.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetraeus and others at the firm [will have] discussions over macroeconomic and geopolitical forces that could influence KKR\u2019s investment decisions. These issues include the heightened role of central banks following the financial crisis, and what KKR views as \u2018revolutions\u2019 in energy, manufacturing and technology, among other areas,\u201d\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u00a0further spelled out.<\/p>\n

The course description, as seen below, sings a similar tune:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students taking Petraeus\u2019 course will go above and beyond passive stoic discussion of the burning public policy issues of the day. Indeed, they will dive into the sphere of role-playing the positions of high-ranking U.S. officialdom, all in the context of the readings \u2014 such as the \u201cfrackademia\u201d ones \u2014 they must complete and discuss in seminar on a weekly basis that will inform the role-play.<\/p>\n

An example below:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Re-Conceptualizing the \u201cRevolving Door\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0government-industry revolving door<\/a>\u00a0commonly refers to governmental officials leaving taxpayer-funded government gigs for jobs as corporate lobbyists, public relations spin-doctors and other related iterations. The evolution and corporatization of research unversities \u2014 in many ways research factories on behalf of multinational corporations \u2014 has seen the revolving door extend into higher education.<\/p>\n

Petraeus is one example and Moniz is another, but so too is former CIA-head\u00a0Robert Gates<\/a>. After leaving the CIA, Gates became the Chancellor of University of Texas A&M and then became Secretary of Defense.<\/p>\n

Another example is\u00a0Janet Napolitano<\/a>, former head of the Department of Homeland Security who recently secured a job to head the University of California System. And yet another example is\u00a0John Deutch<\/a>, former head of the CIA who is now on theBoard of Directors of Cheniere<\/a>, served on\u00a0President Obama\u2019s DOE Fracking Subcommittee<\/a>\u00a0and is a\u00a0professor at MIT<\/a>, where he co-wrote the \u201cThe Future of Natural Gas\u201d with Moniz that Petraeus will have his students read.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetraeusgate,\u201d then, is just the tip of the iceberg of a problem with much deeper roots.<\/p>\n

Steve Horn<\/strong>\u00a0is a Madison, WI-based freelance investigative journalist and Research Fellow at\u00a0DeSmogBlog<\/a>, where this piece originally appeared.<\/em><\/p>\n

Republished with permission from: Counterpunch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Records obtained by\u00a0DeSmogBlog\u00a0pertaining to\u00a0City University of New York (CUNY)\u00a0Macaulay Honors College\u2019s hiring of former head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) David Petraeus to teach a seminar this coming fall reveal that his\u00a0syllabus\u00a0features two of the most well-known \u201cfrackademia\u201d studies. \u201cFrackademia\u201d is shorthand for oil and gas industry-funded research costumed as independent economics or science […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-51544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}