Fracking Hell

Thanks to a recent run of the ‘50 Documentaries to See Before You Die‘ on Current TV (Sky Ch 183) I’ve been making my way through some of the back catalogue of documentaries of the last 25 years. It started with an immediate watching of ‘Hoop Dreams’ which came in at number one and was screened immediately after the conclusion of the Top 50. While a less-than-obvious choice for the number one spot, re-watching it all these years later showed me that it probably was deserving of the accolade. I’ve never wanted two people to succeed against all odds since Léon and Mathilda when I was 12.

Continuing on in the Top 50 stead, I dug out a documentary that I have been meaning to watch for the last year or so but never got around to. ‘Inside Job’ has Matt Damon calmly filling us in on the ring leaders who created the circus that is unregulated (some might say unbridled) Investment Banking on Wall Street. And how those people ultimately caused the economic crisis we as a planet are experiencing today. And how those same people have pretty much been rewarded with jobs in President Obama’s administration as economic advisors and Federal Reserve commissioners. While the documentary itself is not as good as the feature on the rise and fall of Enron – ‘The Smartest Guys in the Room’- which gave a real insight into the astounding practices amongst Enron staff through taped phone calls and leaked documents, it highlights just how corruption and cronyism has been at an all-time high for the last three US Presidential Administrations.

Since I was already angry and dumfounded by the actions of corporate America I decided I’d keep the ball rolling and follow up with the documentary ‘GasLand’. GasLand looks at the environmental damage a relatively new form of natural gas drilling can cause in populated areas. The process of Hydraulic Fracturing, or fracking as it is known basically involves pumping a shed-load of chemicals into a large hole in the ground and pressurizing it to cause a small earthquake which releases natural gas trapped in pockets of shale rock. A relatively ingenious method of releasing natural resources most would agree – apart from the fact that it poisons every well and water supply in the immediate and intermediate vicinity. Gasland begins with a guy with a video camera receiving a 100,000 dollar offer to lease his land for fracking. He loves his land, it’s a nice place of trees, log cabins and babbling brooks so he wants to find out more information before he takes the money and runs. The next couple of hours is spent visiting people who can set their tap water on fire, have severe health issues from neuropathy to actual brain damage, and whose pets and livestock are dying a slow death from drinking from streams. Even though the narrator is a bit of a hippy all the evidence is there on camera that something seriously wrong is happening everywhere this fracking practice has been put to work and unsurprisingly it all boiled back to corrupt politicians who – get this – made an exemption for Oil and Gas drilling companies in the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act These acts prevent any other industry from operating in a manner which threatens the supply of clean water or air to the population. (Un)shockingly enough the Bush administration passed the Energy Bill with the clause that excludes his beloved oil and gas companies.

After finishing GasLand and having far too much outrage flowing through my veins I did a bit more reading on it and googled ‘fracking’. While I had heard it mentioned before in relation to Ireland I was surprised to see ‘fracking in Ireland’ as the top suggestion. Clicking trough I found that an area around Lough Allen – which is a lake on Ireland’s largest and most tourist-oriented waterway; the river Shannon – has been  targeted for hydraulic fracturing. Turns out some Australian firm have been given permission to survey the site for prospective fracturing and that as much €120 Billion worth of gas could be buried in the shale. Knowing Ireland’s previous history of negotiating gas contracts, such as the corrib gas contract, Ireland will probably take in about €12.63 and a voucher for a case of Fosters for such a deal.

Putting these two facts together in my head I realized that while environmental
regulations in Ireland (and Europe as a whole) are likely to be infinitelymore stringent than in the US to ensure the environmental impact could be lessened, there’s serious money to be made in allowing the drilling. Unfortunately Ireland finds itself in dire need of money, lots of money, about €120 billion should be enough to dig us out of this mess. While I would like to think that the Irish government is not foolish enough to risk Ireland’s main tourist attraction, I’m an Irish person so I know only too well how foolish and corrupt they can be. Fine Gael are of the ilk that reverse bans on stag and fox hunting as per their manifesto for election, so what’s a few hundred acres of scenic rivers, lakes and wildlife if they can proclaim to the be the party that saved Ireland from the brink of economic armageddon? I reckon Leitrim folk are going to know pretty soon what those people over in Corrib have been feeling for the last 5 years.

Now I need to go and shower because I feel dangerously hippy-ish in drafting this sort of eco-conscious propaganda. Shudder.

Advertisement