GASLAND Part II Ignites Williamsport Audience

                                                                             By ANN PINCA 

    WILLIAMSPORT -- Oily waves ripple across the Gulf of Mexico as far as the eye can see; a water well in Australia blasts flames from its well-head; children play as bulldozers construct a gas well pad behind them; a dead salamander floats in a Pennsylvania pond. The common thread running through these poignant GASLAND Part II images is extreme energy extraction - and the unwanted extreme impacts that come with it.

Audience members gather outside the Community Arts Center.                                IMAGE: Ann Pinca

 

While GASLAND Part II contains scenes of methane-contaminated water on fire that made Gasland famous, the sequel aspires to deliver a different message. As Fox explained during a June 14 interview on Real Time with Bill Maher, "The first film ... it's about people lighting their water on fire, and this film is about the oil and gas industry lighting our democracy on fire."

Consequently, GASLAND Part II explores the many avenues the oil and gas industry employs to convince Americans of the benefits of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, and to downplay or outright deny its undesirable impacts. Fox brings forward many methods used in this denial for dollars: vast political influence through campaign contributions, employing the same public relations firm used by the tobacco industry in the 1950's to "prove" cigarettes were safe, and the admitted use of psychological operations (PSYOPS) on American citizens.

Fox also presents the compelling stories of families from Wyoming to Texas to Pennsylvania, whose water or properties became contaminated from drilling activity. Some left their homes when the nosebleeds, rashes, or chemical build-up in their organs became too life-threatening; others still face the agonizing decision of whether to stay or walk away. Most must leave their contaminated properties in silence, forced to sign non-disclosure agreements

Josh Fox speaks to the crowd.   IMAGE: W. Lee, Shale Justice

In GASLAND Part II, scientists warn of the dangers of pursuing natural gas extraction. They discuss climate change implications from leaking methane and risk to aquifers from cement well casings that are proven to fail. In the film, Cornell University professor Dr. Anthony Ingraffea states his personal philosophy that only three things are certain in life - death, taxes, and well casing failures.  

What can a citizen do in the face of an energy-demanding nation seemingly hell-bent on fossil fuel extraction?  Fox offers an answer in the film, introducing Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson, whose plan to incorporate wind, solar, and hydro-electric power could lead the United States away from fossil fuels.

After the film, Fox spoke of The Solutions Project, a community-minded effort he is creating with Jacobson, actor Mark Ruffalo, and others to help local communities develop alternative energy plans through democratic energy development. As Fox pointed out, all energy development has some impact. Decisions on energy development should be made by all people together in the community, not just by the will or for the profit of a few. He emphasized that it is people talking to each other, neighbor to neighbor, which will bring about change.

Through GASLAND Part II, Fox brings to light and protests not only the physical contamination of our world through fracking, but also the corruption of our government at all levels - local, state, and federal - through the influence of the oil and gas industry. As he said at a previous screening, "This isn't about fracking anymore. This is about our democracy."

Solidarity!       IMAGE courtesy of Josh Fox, via Twitter

 Does Pennsylvania's Constitution Matter?

RDA recently received the following message from the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF):

PEDF disagrees. Please see John Childe's news release here, and read the Republican Caucus' Petition here. 

• Conduct a comprehensive environmental impact analysis on the current and potential effects of drilling on State lands;

• Uphold the referendum that prohibits any further surface disturbance on State lands;

• Retain all funds gained from gas leases and royalties in the Oil and Gas Lease Fund, as necessary to deal with the impacts from the gas extraction process;

• Restore the $383,000,000 taken from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund and put into the General Fund by former Governor Rendell.