A Little More Background on "Frack Nation"

A recent opinion piece in the New York Post reveals more of the story behind the upcoming documentary "Frack Nation," which we reported on earlier this week(Visit Frack Nation's website here)

Why did the producers decide to create this new film?  Phelim McAleer, one of the producers, explains in the editorial:

Fracking is probably one of the most misunderstood words in the English language.
Thanks to the Oscarnominated documentary “Gasland,” many people believe fracking — a process of getting natural gas out of rock — pollutes water and creates wastelands wherever it is used.
But like so many documentaries nowadays, Gasland is high on anecdote and emotion but low on science and fact.
One of the most dramatic images in “Gasland” is footage of a resident lighting his tap water with flames shooting out of the faucet.
As a journalist, I wanted to learn more, so I went to a Q&A with Gasland director Josh Fox. As I questioned him, Fox eventually admitted that he knew people could light their tap water in these areas decades before fracking came on the scene.
Party trick: Some Marcellus region residents have been able to light their tap water (as dishonestly attributed to fracking in this scene from “Gasland”) for decades.
But he did not include the fact in his documentary because, he said, “It was not relevant.” That was quite an admission, so I quickly threw a recording of the Q&A up on YouTube, and, to my shock, Fox got a Manhattan law firm to write to YouTube threatening it unless the video was removed immediately.
Quicker than I could say “fair use,” Fox and his lawyers pursued my little clip across the Internet, and using threats, shut it down wherever it appeared.
Well, I’m Irish and not very used to being told to shut up. Instead, I got very interested in just what Josh Fox, a fellow journalist, was trying to cover up.




Head to the New York Post website to read the entire piece.  Have you seen "Gasland"?  Will you watch "Frack Nation"?  Discuss it here or on the message board!

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