GASLAND- a film about Fracking
– ROBERT DESMARAIS SULLIVAN, Coordinator, Social Justice Team, First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, aiglefort@gmail.com
Join us to think about the consequences for our health and our environment, if hydrolic fracturation, also called ‘fracking’, begins in Louisiana, as is currently being discussed.
WHAT: ‘GASLAND’, film about fracking in Pennsylvania
WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 4, 12:30 (This is right after Sunday services, so bring a lunch or snack. Coffee will be served.)
WHERE: First Unitarian Universalist Church, 5212 South Claiborne Avenue, intersection Jefferson and South Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans
BACKGROUND:
It is long past time to invent ways to provide safely the energy for daily life. That is no longer just an economic or political issue, but also a moral one. So it is an obligatory issue for those of us concerned with survival of the human species . It is certainly an appropriate issue for churches. Otherwise, they may as well close their doors.
According to scientists, peak oil has probably passed, so it is no longer possible to extract hydrocarbons from surface layers of the earth, and we must go deeper, further and longer to find the oil and gas we want to maintain our lifestyles without inconvenience.
In the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, that means deep-water drilling like the Deepwater Horizon that exploded and killed eleven men and perhaps the Gulf in 2010. On all Earth’s continents, that means forcing chemical-laden water under high-pressure to push natural gas out of the sedimentary layers, like the ones now poisoning water supplies. It means blowing off the tops of Appalachian mountains and digging deep into the Alberta plains to produce toxic petroleum that is supposed to be shipped by pipeline across aquifers and fertile farm fields.
How much are we willing to destroy our planet to profit a few exploiters and to maintain an obsolete lifestyle? The industry claims there will be jobs, but do what good are jobs, if we cannot safely live? BP may drill in the Gulf again, but can the fishermen fish?
The Social Justice Team of First Church launches with the film ‘Gasland’ a series of presentations in the tradition of the Truth-Out Forums for the Gulf. Those Forums, which began in October, 2010, have focused on the health of the Gulf Coast residents and brought Dr. Wilma Subra, Dr. Riki Ott, and Dr. Michael Robichaux to New Orleans to draw attention to the fact that the oil was NOT gone, the seafood was NOT safe, and the people were NOT in good health after the BP disaster. Our Forums have met with moderate success, moderation suggests that New Orleans does not take these issues seriously. We cannot ignore them.
While the Social Justice Team of First Church will continue to invite knowledgeable speakers in its Truth-Out Forum series, with this film it widens the focus of that series. It adds consideration of other challenges to living in a post-peak oil world. Besides looking at the dangers of extracting hydrocarbons with extreme techniques, the new series of films, lectures, and discussions will explore alternative energy sources, anti-democratic political intrigues, and corporate malfeasance in the search for energy.
The series will also examine simpler possibilities like changes in lifestyle that could liberate us from the desire for so much energy.
COMMENT FROM JOSH FOX, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF ‘GASLAND’:
Dear audience, press, and peers:
I have been overwhelmed by the amazing, positive responses to the film. From the incredible reviews, the great HBO ratings, the effusive and impassioned response to our website and Facebook page, the powerful responses of the news media and the thousands of audience members at sold-out community screenings.
I am humbled that Gasland has been so well received and is helping to bring the crisis of gas drilling in the USA to greater attention.
Even before its release, the significance of the film was not lost on the gas industry. In the March 24th
edition of the Oil and Gas Journal, Skip Horvath, the president of the Natural Gas Supply Association said
that Gasland is “well done. It holds people’s attention. And it could block our industry.”
Although I am thoroughly dismayed and disappointed in the recent attacks on the veracity of Gasland and on my credibility as a filmmaker and journalist by Energy-In-Depth and other gas-industry groups, I can’t say that I am surprised.
When I was investigating gas drilling across the United States, I heard time after time from citizens that the industry disputed the citizens’ claims of water and air contamination and denied responsibility for their health problems and other problems related to drilling.
I now know how the people in my documentary feel, to have the things they know to be true and the
questions they are raising so blatantly discounted and smeared. It is truly unfortunate that the gas-drilling industry continues to deny what is so obvious to Americans living in gaslands across the nation instead of taking responsibility for the damage they are causing.
JOSH FOX, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF ‘GASLAND’
INVITATION:
There aren’t any regulations in place to protect us. To “frack” or not to “frack” is not the question…the question is who is going to regulate, protect, repair, and fund the following concerns resulting from fracking:
-Surface water contamination
-Aquifer contamination
-Toxic Bi-Product storage and disposal
-Air pollution associated with construction, leaks and drilling
-Road Repairs needed cause by construction impacts
-Private Well Protection
-Disaster Recovery plans
-Land Lease Advocation for residents
-Well Abandonment procedures
