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Gasland 2 to be Screened at Buffalo State

By Frank Parlato

The writer and director of the movie Gasland, Josh Fox.

There will be a free showing of the film Gasland 2 on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 6 p. m. at Buffalo State College in the Bulger Communication Center.

Gasland 2is a sequel to Gasland, a 2010 film about communities in the United States affected by fracking.

Written and directed by Josh Fox, Gasland has been called a "horror movie, and a wake-up call." Fox has been called the Paul Revere of fracking.

Fracking is a method of drilling horizontally up to two miles into the earth's crust, using high-pressure injections of sand, water and chemicals to splinter shale to release reservoirs of natural gas.

In his new documentary, Fox focuses on people whose lives have been adversely affected by the shale drilling boom, as he travels from the Gulf coast to central Texas, then north to his home in the Delaware River basin.

Fox contends the gas industry's portrayal of natural gas as a clean, safe alternative to oil is false, that toxic chemicals used in fracking seep into groundwater, that fracking wells leak over time, contaminating water and air, that “the gas industry is fully aware that their wells are failing," and that fracking releases methane, the main component of natural gas, a potent greenhouse gas, which degrades the earth's ozone layer.

An aggressive PR campaign was launched to discredit Fox, Gasland and Gasland 2. With funding from oil companies, groups like Energy in Depth created websites with a list of claimed factual inaccuracies in Gasland and produced a film called TruthLand.

The gas industry argues that its safety precautions are effective. One study claims that out of 33,000 wells drilled in Ohio and 187,000 drilled in Texas, there were only 12 incidents of leakages, spillage or other contamination in Ohio and only two in Texas.

During his re-election campaign last year, in the battleground state of Ohio, where many residents see fracking as the road to wealth, jobs and a reservoir of domestic energy, President Barack Obama said fracking could be useful in reducing U.S. carbon emissions, create nearly 600,000 jobs, and safely provide America with a 100-year supply of natural gas, making us less dependent on foreign oil.

Gasland 2 premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 21, 2013. The film also looks at how the oil and gas industry is “contaminating our democracy.”

A 2011 report calculated that the fracking industry gave more than $20 million to members of Congress and spent $726 million on lobbying.

The Buff State film screening is sponsored by New Yorkers Against Fracking, NYPIRG, Western NY Drilling Defense and Food & Water Watch. The campus lots are open for parking for the event.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter - Publisher Frank Parlato Jr. www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Nov 19, 2013