Gasland II Film Night

The Film Night

Many will have seen Gasland, Josh Fox’s hard-hitting documentary on the shale gas (fracking) revolution. In 2011 this film was nominated for a best documentary Oscar.  With Gasland II, Fox explores the rapid expansion of fracking throughout the USA and its political and environmental implications. 

Gasland II follows a number of families who lost their water supply and eventually their homes to the gas boom. Writer/director Josh Fox argues that because of political donations, oil and gas companies have managed to overrule government regulators and control politicians.

According to an investigation by Bloomberg News, “…even the stories of poisoned water and flaring water hoses are being forced underground. Over the past few years, gas companies have bought out the properties of home owners whose water was contaminated by fracking fluids, in return for non-disclosure agreements.”

Fracking has already won powerful supporters in the US and UK, as well as grass roots opposition.  With the current unrest in Ukraine and possible disruption of gas supplies from Russia to Europe, the call for energy independence is growing louder than arguments for environmental concerns or alternative energy. This film could not be more relevant for voters in the USA, U. and Europe. 

Director, Josh Fox, told The Guardian: 

“This isn’t just about fracking at all anymore. This is about our system of government, and this is about climate change… If what we are seeing all across America is people able to light their water on fire, why hasn’t our government done anything about it, why have our regulatory agencies failed to protect us?

“We have seen state agencies, local agencies, even the EPA be controlled by politics, and when it becomes a matter of politics, the science just magically disappears,” Fox said. “Investigations get rolled back and buried.”

Film Website:  wwww.gaslandthemovie.com for information resources on fracking.

About the Film Night Speakers

Following the film, we had a discussion via Skype with John Fenton, a Wyoming farmer who appears in both  films.

John Fenton is a farmer from Pavillion, Wyoming, who appears in both Gasland and Gasland II. There are 24 gas wells on his family farm. His Pavillion community has been subjected to pollution of the local ground water and its air, as well as changes in agricultural land use as a result of local fracking. 

In 2010, after it found the water to be contaminated with dangerous chemicals and methane caused by fracking, the EPA warned Pavillion residents not to drink the local water, and advised them to use fans when bathing or washing clothes to avoid the risk of explosion.  

John has been involved with campaigns for effective regulation at local, state and national levels.  He has become a leading activist in the US against unconventional gas exploration and has recently been on a speaking tour in Australia, where fracking is also a political issue.

Elizabeth Block is a journalist and consultant who specializes in renewable energy.  She has been following the shale gas debate very closely. As an opponent of the increased use of fossil fuels, Liz attended the anti-shale gas protest at Balcombe, Sussex, last summer.

Given the huge spread of fracking in the US and its possible use in Britain, Liz feels that it is very important for DAUK members to have a chance to see this documentary and be informed of the political debates of energy vs. environment.

She is an active member of Democrats Abroad UK, the DAUK Film Committee, and is also on the management committee of the Tipping Point Film Fund; a London-based group that supports campaigning documentaries.