The worst two examples of this conscious decision to leave out perhaps the strongest argument that pro-fracking forces can offer were in the Sacramento Bee and the L.A. Times.

In 2013, the Bee’s Pulizer-winning environmental reporter, Tom Knudson, wrote a voluminous, harshly critical look at fracking and California. He never mentioned that the Obama administration believes it to be just like another heavy industry that can be made safe enough with proper regulation.

Also in 2013, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell held a news conference announcing rules for fracking on federal land. The New York Times noted that Jewell’s remarks included pointed criticism of those who depicted fracking as unsafe. The Los Angeles Times covered the same press conference. Rather incredibly, it ignored Jewell’s remarks and instead quoted an oil industry figure as saying fracking was safe.

Cabinet member hits fracking ‘misinformation’

Now Jewell may have made it close to impossible for the California media to continue ignoring the Obama administration’s view by weighing in with KQED on what she sees as the poor logic behind local fracking bans.

President Obama’s chief custodian of federal lands says local and regional bans on fracking are taking regulation of oil and gas recovery in the wrong direction.

“I would say that is the wrong way to go,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told KQED in an exclusive interview. “I think it’s going to be very difficult for industry to figure out what the rules are if different counties have different rules.”

In November, two California counties added themselves to a growing list of local bans on hydraulic fracturing. Voters approved measures in San Benito and Mendocino Counties by wide margins.

“There are a lot of fears out there in the general public and that manifests itself with local laws or regional laws,” Jewell said.

The recent move by New York to extend a statewide ban does not sit especially well with Jewell, who, as a former petroleum engineer, has hands-on experience with fracking.

“There is a lot of misinformation about fracking,” Jewell said. “I think that localized efforts or statewide efforts in many cases don’t understand the science behind it and I think there needs to be more science.”

Will the Bee, the Times and other California newspapers ignore this latest affirmation of the Obama administration’s view that fracking is not the devil?

I don’t see how they can — even though it will remind people how long they’ve covered up the views of Jewell, Obama and the administration in general.

But here’s a little context no one has provided so far: Birgenau and his wife could easily have been killed by a mob of anarchists in 2009 — and he and a lot of other authority figures subsequently didn’t seek their tough punishment. Here’s what I wrote on Dec. 23, 2009:

“On the night of Dec. 11, a mob of up to 70 people infuriated by budget cuts and tuition hikes assaulted the on-campus residence of UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgenau. Campus police reported that the thugs attempted to break into the home and to light it on fire, and said that when police responded, the mob tried to light officers’ cars on fire.

“Police arrested eight people on suspicion of rioting, threatening an educational official, attempted burglary, attempted arson, felony vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

“Birgenau said he and his wife were afraid for their lives. The governor likened the attack to terrorism and said the terrorists should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

“But 10 days after the assault, the Alameda County DA announced that no charges had been filed and that it was unlikely that any charges ever would be filed because of a lack of strong evidence.

“Huh? UC campuses are loaded with surveillance cameras. Given that in 1992, an ‘activist’ was killed trying to break into Berkeley chancellor’s residence, of course it is similarly protected. Beyond that, the thugs almost certainly left behind plenty of physical evidence.”

Karma of a kind

So while of course what happened at Haverford is a pathetic reminder of the Stalinist impulse in hard-left politics, it’s also kind of karma for Birgenau’s slippery, slick actions in 2009, when he turned the other cheek rather than go after people who nearly killed him.

Given that these homicidal lunatics are probably still on the street, Birgenau’s decision shouldn’t just be judged as an attempt to tamp down campus controversy or as naked appeasement. It was dangerous. Birgenau and all those who downplayed the worst recent example of California terrorism should be held accountable.

The rough treatment Birgenau has faced the past week from the hard left doesn’t compare to what he faced from a violent wing of the same bunch on the night of Dec. 11, 2009.