Community Currency - 03/10/11

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Gasland, Fracking, Josh Fox and America's Journey

Guests - Josh Fox, Emily Green

Gasland was recently nominated for an Academy Award. A recipient of the Special Jury Award at Sundance Film Festival and a run on HBO has helped this outstanding documentary to draw public attention to one of the most serious environmental threats to the country and to the world's precious fresh water- the process of "fracking" or "hydraulic fracturing."

The sheer magnitude of the problem is emotionally overwhelming and under-reported. Josh Fox's personal narrative, woven in with the stories of others who have been seduced or affected by lucrative offers from the gas companies who promote "clean energy" - natural gas as a healthy solution to "foreign oil" dispels the dominant myth, connects the dots, paints a frightening picture of a growing problem that demands the immediate attention of the public, if we are going to have any chance at all to save our land, our water, our country from poisonous destruction.

The film begins as a young man's personal journey, exploration in response to a lucrative offer from the gas company to drill for gas on his land. He uses his film making skills and becomes a bit of an investigative journalist as he learns more about the situation. The film's website becomes a launchpad for action, organizing efforts, to lobby for protective legislation and against the dismantling of safeguards designed to protect the public.

Emily Green is an award winning journalist who writes for the Los Angeles Times and keeps up a blog entitled Chance of Rain devoted to water, politics, the environment and gardening. She has written and done a lot of research on the subject of fracking.