Josh Fox’s 2010 documentary Gasland is an extraordinarily important film. Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance, where it premiered, Gasland, virtually on its own, helped expose an imminent threat to our drinking water and local environments. Detailing the gripping and awful story of how fracking became the dominant technology in US gas production, the film does an excellent job explaining exactly what hydraulic fracturing is and why it’s such a mortal threat.
Sadly, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a far-from-uncritical backer of the practice, failed to heed the film’s essential message that there’s no such thing as safe fracking. His proposal to permit fracking in counties in the southwest portion of the state, bordering Pennsylvania—Broome, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga counties—and only then in towns which agree to allow fracking—while banning the practice outright in Catskill Park, in aquifer areas, and in national designated historic districts, sounds, at first blush, like a compromise, but it actually puts New York State’s poorest and most vulnerable communities in the most peril and gives the gas industry much of what it wants.
Fox’s follow-up to Gasland, The Sky Is Pink, directly takes on Cuomo and shows exactly why his proposal is so regressive and dangerous. Called the “best 18-minute video ever made,” by Greenpeace’s Kevin Grandia, the new mini-doc reveals a slew of industry documents detailing serious concerns about well safety and water contamination and accessibly unpacks the increasing body of research, from both academics and intergovernmental agencies, that convincingly demontrates that expanding the use of natural gas will do nothing to prevent climate change.
Most impressively, the film offers an easy primer for people who have no idea what fracking is, while still offering engaging material for those steeped in the issue, making the video an ideal organizing tool. See for yourself and then share this post with friends, family and your Facebook and Twitter communities.
What to do? A good first step is to implore your reps to support the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act. The legislation aims to repeal the exemption for hydraulic fracturing in the Safe Drinking Water Act. It would require the energy industry to disclose the chemicals it pumps underground in the hydraulic fracturing process, information that has been protected as trade secrets.
