Controversial Glider Kit Environmental Study Comes Under Fire
A study that played a key role in a recent EPA proposal to roll back glider kit restrictions has come under fire by the faculty of the Tennessee unversity that conducted it. Photo: Tom Berg
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A Tennessee Technical University study that was funded by Fitzgerald Glider Kits and played a key role in reintroducing a glider kit loophole to the 2017 greenhouse gas regulations is being called into question by the faculty of TTU, who say that the questionable study hurts the reputation of the university.
After the Environmental Defense Fund attacked the study’s credibility earlier this year, the faculty of TTU requested an investigation into the study from the university president Phil Oldham that would submit the study to peer review, according to a report in the Herald Citizen. The study was conducted by TTU’s associate vice president of research Tom Brewer, who the faculty asked to be suspended pending the investigation’s outcome.
In addition to funding the research, Fitzgerald announced around the same time period in late 2017 that it would be building a new academic research center for TTU.
In the TTU faculty’s request to investigate the University’s study, it stated, “Our reputation and integrity as an institution and, by extension, the faculty, staff and students, are two of the most valuable assets of the university. Our reputation has recently been damaged because of a study funded by Fitzgerald Glider Kits and used to influence federal policy.”
The study in question purported to show that glider kits would not have a significant environmental impact and may actually pollute less than modern engines, going against an Obama-era EPA study that determined the opposite. The TTU study was used by Fitzgerald when it petitioned the EPA for the repeal of regulations restricting the use of glider …Read the rest of this story
