Mostly this appears to be a case of a little puffery. CSIRO didn’t say “no risk,” they said “low risk,” something that could be addressed in a flash with an overlay text to that effect. It is no more an issue than “Australia’s favorite [product X]” style advertising.
THE CSIRO has rejected claims made by the coal seam gas industry in a TV advertising campaign and asked that the ads not be aired.
The commercial includes the statement: ”CSIRO [and government studies] have shown that groundwater is safe with coal seam gas.”
However, the national science body said yesterday that this claim was not true. ”At no time has CSIRO made such a statement, and nor do the results of CSIRO research support such a statement,” the organisation said.
”CSIRO has stated on the public record that coal seam gas extraction is likely to pose a ‘low risk’ to groundwater quality through contamination.”
