The new movie about fracking is getting a pushback from the drilling industry, according to latest news reports, a case re-opened for pondering due to the new Matt Damon film about the fight over natural gas drilling. In fact, the energy industry is fighting back in a way by inserting a message offering "straightforward facts" about hydraulic fracturing.
In response the public is asking whether fracking leads to cracking, which in turn may cause problems varying from contaminants in drinking water and soil to possible earthquakes. Most Californians are afraid fracking (hydraulic fracturing) may cause earthquakes or contaminants in ground water. Does fracking cause cracking?
Now, there's a new movie, "Promised Land" that opened nationwide on January 4, 2013 about hydraulic fracturing of land (fracking). And in addition to the movie, there also may be another industry campaign aimed at preventing the public from continuously criticizing fracking. Check out the documentary, Gasland.
The question is whether Damon's movie is 'derivative' or 'condescending' as the industry may claim. See, Promised Land showtimes for Sacramento, CA. The public should be free to criticize hydraulic fracturing as long as the evidence from experts is available and acceptable to other experts who know what they're doing and are accepted as credible by those in power.
The usual label of cliche has made the rounds of discussion, all because a movie wants to make the world a safer place and let the public know the dangers of hydraulic fracturing of the Earth and what the results could be. Industry campaigns also use social media to talk to the public. The questions in the media vary from whether the oil and gas industry is totally honest with the average person, or highly respectable, or dishonest. See, Drilling For Facts Under The 'Promised Land' Fiction: NPR.
The issue is nobody wants to play 'doctor' and accuse any industry of anything when there's no evidence or experience to open the public mouth when pitted against huge industries, when the average person may be dirt poor and out of work or somewhere in between. The film has been recorded in Pennsylvania and directed by Gus Van Sant. See, Fracking Group Buys Ads to Run in Front of Matt Damon's 'Promised Land'.
The plot of the movie pits an out-of town gas-company land man up against an environmentalist in a fictional town. The industry is portrayed as using the usual maneuvers the average person often talks about when it comes to high industry in opposition to the drama of being one against many.
The issue, in fiction, faction, or fracking, is a symbol for 'Americana' in conflict with how to deal with cracking up the Earth to get more gas and the outcome. The issue is whether fracking or hydraulic fracturing of the Earth is or is not healthy. It's about natural gas drilling. Check out the site, Promised Land (2012 film).
Fracking in Sacramento
Fracking in Sacramento and throughout California not a healthy trend. Learn how natural gas drilling is affecting your local rivers and clean water. Check out the article, Sacramento Natural Gas Storage. What about hydraulic fracturing of rock to extract oil?
The hydraulic fracturing industry is touting the potential of fracking in California to tap the largest oil shale formation in the continental United States, containing 64 percent of the nation's deep-rock oil deposits. See, Fracking causes earthquakes.
Check out the March 19, 2012 Sacramento Bee news article by Michael J. Mishak, "Oil extraction method widely used in California - Sacramento Bee." There's a full-length feature film documentary that you may want to view, Controversial "Pro-Fracking" Documentary - Sacramento Bee. California is now called Aquafornia by some.
It took less than one month for producers to raise $150,000 from more than 2,000 backers for the documentary, FrackNation. Since the launch of the crowdfunding campaign on February 6, 2012, the financial and emotional support for the film has earned it a top spot on Kickstarter's "most popular" list and helped FrackNation reach its $150,000 fundraising goal in half the estimated time, according to the March 6, 2012 Sacramento Bee article, Controversial "Pro-Fracking" Documentary - Sacramento Bee.
Energy companies across California are giving the Earth a high enema with a mysterious mix of chemicals into the ground to tap oil deposits. At the opposite corner are frustrating attempts by concerned people to regulate the controversial process, known as hydraulic fracturing.
California's battle with fracturing (also known as fracking) include fears that local areas could be candidates for increased "fracking" because of its unique geology. Companies aren't saying what chemicals they are putting in the ground.
Is there any lack of disclosure about what ingredients go into the ground?
That's the problem--lack of disclosure of the names of the ingredients going into the ground. People want to see what's printed on the label is the same as what's being injected into the earth, rock, and well water.
Last year, according to the Sacramento Bee article, the energy industry scuttled a bill that would have enlisted California in the growing ranks of states that require companies to disclose what they put into the ground. At least nine states have such guidelines.
Where is California's guideline?
California doesn't have a guideline, not one that satisfies most people's right to know what's being injected into the ground where they have to live and in some cases draw their well water from that source. Don't keep blaming the construction of family wells. That can be repaired. What can't be repaired by individual families is what goes into the water. It's ubiquitous. So who has the legal power to make changes in regulatory rules?
If you look at the Brown administration here, there is an easing up of regulation of the energy industry. But it remains to be seen when if any rules on extraction methods will ever been drawn up or developed soon. See, Fracking causes earthquakes.
Here's the big picture when it comes to your health trends. Do existing environmental laws protect your drinking water here in Sacramento and throughout California? Few people have ever found all the information they need to know about on the scale of fracking happening in California. The practice has gone on for years in some California areas near densely-populated areas.
Regulatory agencies just haven't been given any information to answer the questions from consumers. Nationwide, fracking is driving an oil and natural gas boom. Check out the site, Promised Land - Movie Trailers - Fandango.com.
In different areas of the USA the energy companies 'frack' (as in fracture the earth's rocks) in order to extract previously unreachable fossil fuels locked within the deep rocks. When the drilling and injecting starts, will the earthquakes follow?
That's what most people fear. And where is the information that says all this drilling is safe for the drinking water? What about the earthquakes? What else affects the health and safety of most people locally that might be a result of drilling in California to tap the largest oil shale formation in the country?
The online research sites hawk statements that fracking causes earthquakes in California. The state regulars note that fracking in California is different from drilling in the Rockies, the Midwest, or the Northeast.
At the other coast, operators inject millions of gallons of chemical-laced water and sand to break apart rock and release natural gas. In California, the process has long been performed for shorter duration with much less water to loosen crude in depleted oil wells.
Most people say it's not safe and causes earthquakes. But people from the industry insist it is safe, tested, and proven. As usual, follow the money. The industry digs to make money. Is it safe? Check out the Western Petroleum Association. Public health officials say fracking is not so safe because of effects regarding public health as well as the environment.
Hydraulic fracturing has been used on thousands of wells in California, according to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based organization critical of the energy industry. On the other hand, in 2011, a three-year study from the US Environmental Protection Agency noted that fracking was the likely cause of contaminated well water in Wyoming.
What's the problem? Beware of drinking water tainted with methane as is news in Pennsylvania. There wells of several families were tainted with chemicals including methane after fracking began nearby.
Naturally the industry blamed the well construction for contamination, not the fracking and cracking. Big picture? Where's the disclosure when it comes to Sacramento and local regional areas?
Check out the websites, Instapundit » Blog Archive » Frack Nation Documentary, Frack Nation: A New Film in Defense of Fracking, and Frack Nation Exceeds Its Funding Goal, with Time to Spare.
For further information check out the sites, Fracking, Earthquakes and the mysterious Caldwell Pines, California, How Fracking, Drilling and Earthquakes Are Linked | StateImpact, and Method predicts size of fracking earthquakes : Nature News.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, stimulates gas production by injecting wells with high volumes of chemical-laced water in order to free-up pockets of natural gas below. The process is controversial with critics saying it could poison water supplies, while the natural-gas industry says it's been used safely for decades.
Should the local area here in California allow the type of fracking to get at those large deposits of oil and gas? Back on the east coast, economically struggling Binghamton, N.Y. has passed a drilling ban which prohibits any exploration or extraction of natural gas in the city for the next two years.
The Marcellus Shale Gas Field extends through parts of New York State, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia and could hold up to 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Do the people get to vote on what happens in California near Sacramento or in other areas of California which hold lots of natural gas?
After all, a company wants to store natural gas deep under the streets of some South Sacramento neighborhoods. See the article, Company Wants To Store Natural Gas Underneath Homes In South Sacramento. Does that sound like a healthy trend to you?
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