Gov. David Freudenthal of Wyoming came to the defense of academic freedom during a meeting on Friday of the University of Wyoming’s Board of Trustees, according to the Casper Star-Tribune. The governor, a Democrat and ex officio member of the board, said academics should be free to state unpopular opinions without fear of retaliation.

His comments followed a state legislative committee’s decision to reject a $500,000 budget increase that he had proposed for the university’s William D. Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources. Some lawmakers were angered by a report, issued by the institute, that criticized a technique for recovering methane from coal — a growing part of Wyoming’s fossil-fuel industry and of the nation’s natural-gas supply.

One co-chairman of the committee said he thought the institute’s educational mission had become improperly mixed with public-policy advocacy. The other co-chairman said lawmakers retained the right to challenge “false or misleading” statements. Still, he noted that the $500,000 could still be restored later in the budgeting process. —Andrew Mytelka