Gasland FrackNation Truthland Fracking

The environmentalist/anti fracking point of view shown in the documentary “Gasland” is a very informative, and important documentary that people everywhere should watch. The narrator, Josh Fox offers several valid and intelligent points about the possible dangers of fracking, and the many chemicals used in it. However, Fox is a very biased narrator, and at several points offers invalid evidence. For example, Fox attempts to instill fear in the viewer, in his controversial scene, detailing the many chemicals used in fracking fluid. While these chemicals are carcinogens, in the movie “Frack Nation,” it is explained by a UC Berkeley professor, that these chemicals are not harmful to humans. The professor states that millions of the chemicals in our daily lives are classified as carcinogens, but don’t give humans cancer in the doses we are exposed to. Some of his comparisons to chemicals giving cancer are almost as rash as saying one cigarette will give you terminal lung cancer. This is evident as even experts such as Alan J. Krupnick of Resources For the Future describe his documentary as an “Unabashed and one-sided bashing of the oil and gas industry... The relatively esoteric issue of fugitive methane gives way to some really outrageous statements." It seems as though Fox’s main goal was not to express the truth about the oil and gas industry, but his wild claims were more directed toward creating drama. John Hangar of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was quoted as saying that “This movie certainly contributes to more public misunderstanding.” Another key citation is the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission stating “Gasland incorrectly attributes several cases of water well contamination in Colorado to oil and gas development when our investigations determined that the wells in question contained biogenic methane that is not attributable to such development.” Fox is clearly not a reliable source. Also Fox’s main examples in the movie