Gasland

I’ve found Gasland to be an informative and very interesting movie so far. Last week in my APES class we watched a movie on Mountaintop mining and coal removal. Between these two videos I feel as though natural gases/fuel/energy is truly the only safe way to go.  I think that this guys idea is great and his intentions are good. He is not worried about the response of the industry because his priority is to save his land, health and community from enduring what many are already dealing with. I was surprised to learn that the hydraulic fracking is occurring in Colorado since I consider it a “green” state. I have applied to two colleges in Colorado because of the “green” status but after watching this documentary I have been inspired to research the location of the fracking systems and if I would be affected. In addition I have an aunt who lives in Colorado with her family, her kids are constantly sick so I want to show her this movie and see if she is aware of the fracking and if she is near any sites.

Though I have complete sympathy for those suffering with health problems due to the privileges that these fracking companies have been given, the thing that concerns me is that these people sold their land to these companies with at least some idea of what would be happening. This isn’t to say that any of these people have brought unjust living conditions upon themselves, but I am curious how aware they were of what would happen to their land and why they would sell it to these companies in the first place? Were they given the wrong impression when they sold? Were they forced to sell? I imagine there are many possible ways that these fracking companies acquired the land but I have yet to hear anyone mention it.

As I mentioned before I hope that this video is as awakening to others as it was to me. I strongly recommend people to view the video on mountain mining as well because so many people are not aware of where their energy/electricity comes from and the sacrifice that comes with it. With two classes centered around environmental change, problems and sustainability I can’t help but feel that I need to do my part in making sure that as a town, a state, a country and as a world do our part to preserve the earth to the best of our ability rather than tearing it apart and destroying lives in the process.