New Belgium's hypocrisy is not surprising. Alcohol, not hydraulic fracture fluid, is one of the most lethal products in the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control, on an annual basis in the U.S., there are 80,000 deaths (2,000 underage), 10,000 traffic deaths, 1.2 million emergency room visits, and 50,000 cases of poisoning, all related to the abuse of alcohol.

The comparative deaths attributable to hydraulic fracturing? Zero.

I have been following the "fracking" debate for a long time now, and I don't remember a more insipid and pointless effort than this:

Nevertheless, the oil and gas industry is under siege, the target of campaigns based on half-truths and innuendo. For at least a dozen years the oil and gas industry has committed a sin of omission by not challenging the unsupportable claims of renewable energy advocates who have claimed "the moral high ground" on energy.

So…Somewhere in Harpoles' frack fluid addled brain is a neuron glitch that lets him completely forget that his hero, the governor, SELLS BEER. If you sell beer and love fracking you are OK…but, if you sell beer and question the practice of drilling and fracking near peoples' homes, you are a hypocrite, earning derision and deserving of being shunned. 

It is hard to imagine a more desperate and ill-founded argument than the one being proffered here by John, "gimme a shot of that good stuff, Hick", Harpole. His conclusion?…

 Well, as for Fat Tire and the myths surrounding it, well, in my household it has become impossible to swallow.

John Harpole is founder and president of Mercator Energy, a natural gas services, brokerage and research company.