Josh Fox's, filmaker and creator of "Gasland", recent interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now revealed deep disappointment with President Obama's support for fracking. Fox expressed the belief that fracking as a technique, cannot be made safe and essentially should be abandoned.
Here is part of his statement in response to the President's statement on fracking in the State of the Union message:
JOSH FOX: That was actually quite, I think, a very painful moment for a lot of people who have been focusing on gas fracking for the last several years. I think the President’s statements right there are wrong. I mean, it’s very clear that we do not have a hundred years’ worth of natural gas, and certainly not if we want to start using it in cars and trucks. And it has been—it’s very, very unclear, in the science, whether or not this fracking technique can be done safely. And in my research, it shows itself to be inherently contaminating. And there is no proof to think that we could be doing this gas extraction safely.
Fox goes on to credit the EPA for being "aggressive"
On the other hand, what the President did say was that he was in support of the disclosure of the chemicals, which is to say, the reversal of the exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act that the gas industry was granted in 2005. They were made exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, which stated that—in the 2005 energy bill, allowing them to inject toxic chemicals and toxic material into the ground without having to report that. So what he’s saying is, you can’t get away with not reporting and not disclosing the chemicals that you’re pumping into the ground. However, when we look at the industry’s own reports, and it shows that 40 percent of their wells have integrity issues—that is to say, the well casing that protects the groundwater cracks in 40 percent of the cases over a short period of time, and in a larger percentage over a longer period of time—this is basically surrendering those areas to groundwater contamination, either in the short term or in the long term.
So, I think that this is obviously an issue of an enormous amount of importance. And there’s no way you can actually just start galloping down this road of natural gas. What this means is a further delay in our transition to a renewable energy economy. And when you look at what Obama’s EPA is doing, they’re extremely aggressive. They have actually been very responsive. I mean, John could probably talk about that. EPA just delivered water to people in the town of Dimock, which suffered a similar kind of water contamination as happened in Pavillion. And they have been stepping up to the plate. So this is why you’re seeing the Republicans attacking EPA, which is the part of Obama’s policy which I agree with wholeheartedly.
I have to disagree somewhat with Fox here. The EPA has only gotten aggressive after Fox's film and the media attention that began to focus on the contamination of well water. Real aggression from the EPA, in my book, would be to recommend shutting down the industry immediately in order to safeguard our underground aquifers. Under the current corporate dominated role in politics, that ain't gonna happen unless there is a huge groundswell of grass roots support for such a move.
Fox's two part interview with Goodman:
Here is Obama's statement on fracking in its entirety (scroll down on the Goodman interview with Fox):
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years. And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. And I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use, because America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk. The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy. And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock, reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.
Obama wants his cake and he wants to eat it too, as does the oil and natural gas industry. Disclosing the chemicals used won't prevent the aquifers from being contaminated. As Fox stated, it is very questionable whether such a technology can be made "safe" for groundwater. Much time would be wasted attempting to do so, and more contamination of aquifers would occur. Shutting down the technology is the only answer.
It is interesting to note that this technology was developed with public funds, as Obama indicates in his State of the Union speech. We should all be outraged that this technique was developed with our monies, and then used to pollute our aquifers. Weren't the aquifers a consideration as the technology was being developed...with public funds?
If public funds could be utilized to develop fracking techniques, then public funds can be utilized to develop renewable and truly clean forms of energy...not "clean coal" or "clean natural gas". It's going to take a great deal of street insistence...so to speak, from those concerned about the future of the sustainability of life on the planet.
From Goodman's transcript is a statement from Wyoming farmer John Fenton, in response to Obama's statement on fracking:
"Things changed pretty rapidly," Fenton says, after fracking took place on his land near Pavillion, and he now has to ship in water for drinking. "It didn’t take long to notice significant impacts to the water, the change to smell like diesel fuel. Methane was bubbling in the water. We had neighbors that actually had livestock die from drinking the water. And we also saw really huge impacts to our way of life. The farm fields are full of wellheads now that we have to work around. We have people coming and going off our property 24 hours a day. And we’ve seen over a 50 percent devaluation in the value of our land."
John Fenton's interview with Goodman is truly disturbing, in that when industry spokespeople approached him about putting wells on his land, he was reassured "over and over" that the technique was safe. Remember, this was a technique developed with public funds. Fenton talks about the health issues they are dealing with, as they are still bathing in the contaminated water:
JOHN FENTON: Drinking and cooking water comes in five-gallon office cooler-type water jugs now. So that’s what we do all of our drinking and cooking issues with. We’re still bathing in the contaminated water. We have not been able to prepare an alternative source yet. We’ve seen all sorts of impacts from that. We have people with really unexplainable health conditions, a lot of neurological problems, a neuropathy, seizures, people losing their sense of smell, sense of taste, you know, people with their arms and legs going numb. It’s very significant.
It's interesting that neither Goodman nor Gonzales jump on the health issues, asking why health care has not been offered to these folks...and why this industry is allowed to continue to utilize this technique that is literally poisoning people.
Fenton goes on to say that the Wyoming government officials responded in a less than helpful manner, you could say, in response to the developing concerns as a result of aquifer contamination. It is a must see interview. It is disturbing to know that these good folks are still having to bath in this contaminated water. What this will mean to their health long term is not something to look forward to.
It reminds me of the situation on the Gulf coast, with the massive use of Corexit on the BP disaster, resulting in massive poisoning of thousands of folks on the coast...and yet Corexit is still the major response method to major oil spills.
We're going to need many voices on these issues...speaking up loudly. We are given a false choice: energy extracted with unacceptable risks to human and ecological health, and massive profits for those industries. We've got to make some hard choices and we've got to do it fast.