Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Energy Corps to Citizens: "Frack You!"

The so-called "Halliburton loophole" inserted in the in the 20005 energy bill by Dick Cheney exempts energy exploitation industries from the Clean Water Act. Amy Goodman, on Democracy Now discusses the consequences of this with the auteur of the Sundance Film Festival award for best documentary. Below is the 3-part Q&A Session after the Sundance showing of this award-winning film, "Gasland." I think you can watch the whole film here.

Part 1:
U.S. DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

It is happening all across America—rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas.” Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground—a hydraulic drilling process called “fracking”—and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower.

But what comes out of the ground with that “natural” gas? How does it affect our air and drinking water? GASLAND is a powerful personal documentary that confronts these questions with spirit, strength, and a sense of humor. When filmmaker Josh Fox receives his cash offer in the mail, he travels across 32 states to meet other rural residents on the front lines of fracking. He discovers toxic streams, ruined aquifers, dying livestock, brutal illnesses, and kitchen sinks that burst into flame. He learns that all water is connected and perhaps some things are more valuable than money.
Part 2:

Part 3:

1 comment:

Charles D said...

Since these natural gas drilling corporations are people according to the Supremes, then we should do with them what we would do to any person who committed these depraved acts: lock them up and confiscate their assets.

Of course, that will never happen. Corporations are shape-shifters. They are people when it makes them money and inanimate objects when it might cost them a nickel.