Russ Steele
We have been having an on going discussion about the safety of fracking as portrayed in Gasland a An Oscar-nominated movie. Gasland, implies that fracking contaminates our water supply with chemicals. That is not what John Strossel found out in his Fox News Investigation. He writes about it in a Reason On-line article. Shale Gas Fracking - Who Can We Trust?
The movie Gasland implies that fracking contaminates our water supply with chemicals. In the movie, some homeowners are shown setting their tap water on fire. This got investigative report Strossel's attention, and he writes:
I've seen Michael Moore's movies and environmental documentaries, which I thought were nonsense. But Gasland is more convincing. I thought it merited discussion on my Fox Business show last week.
Unfortunately, Gasland producer Josh Fox turned down my invitation, as did representatives of the big national environmental groups that oppose fracking. I think I know why. The movie and the left's arguments against fracking are deceitful.
First, the movie implies that nasty chemicals get into the water table. That seems logical, since they shoot them down into gas wells. But it turns out that the shale gas wells are thousands of feet below the water table. Do the chemicals flow up—against gravity?
But then what's the explanation for the most dramatic part of the movie: tap water so laden with gas that people can set it on fire?
It turns out that has little to do with fracking. In many parts of America, there is enough methane in the ground to leak into people's well water. The best fire scene in the movie was shot in Colorado, where the filmmaker is in the kitchen of a man who lights his faucet. But Colorado investigators went to that man's house, checked out his well, and found that fracking had nothing to do with his water catching fire. His well-digger had drilled into a naturally occurring methane pocket.
What Strossel found out was that 40 percent of the wells in Pennsylvania have some sort of naturally occurring methane gas, so the fire in the faucet was not caused by fracking, yet that is what the movie is all about. Once again the left has used a fake documentary to dupe America.
The enviro's mission is to shut down oil and gas drilling, especially shale gas which in abundance is driving down the cost of natural gas, making alternative enegy highly uncompetitive without expensive subsidies.
Exit Question: Were you duped by Gasland?
