Gasland

I must seem like the most boring person to the people who don't know me. Lining up documentary after documentary, going back through my entries I sometimes think "gosh, is this all I do, watch docs and search the internet for anything environmentally related?" Well, I don't. I find it hugely interesting to watch these different documentaries. I am aware of the fact that the documentaries I watch are quite biased and maybe one-sided but to be honest I trust these documentary makers far more than business or state reports. Yes, it might sound conspiratory but I believe the business world is a corrupt place and having seen the documents of the sums involved in lobbying, I have no doubts that (many) states are corrupt.

Either way, tonight's doc offered an insight in the process of natural gas extraction. Sometimes I think I should just stop caring about the world, what is the point, there is so much that is wrong with this world. How can just a few people at the top have the power to ruin so many lives and destroy natural habitats?

This film is kind of like Erin Brockovich. Josh Fox, who made the film, (nominated for an Oscar for best documentary 2011) got an offer from a gas company on his property for nearly $100 000. Bring his family home, built by his parents he wanted to know more about the effects of gas extraction. The facts he found were not encouraging. Turns out that oil and gas companies are exempted from laws on protection of drinking water etc and they do not have to disclose the chemicals used in this process. However, several water testings showed the use of some seriously harmful chemicals that cause brain damage. Thousands of people are living in these areas and breathing this air everyday. It's insane. You really have to watch it to understand the full scale of things. Only in America... I hope to I-don't-know-what only in America!

Can I offer you some flammable water perhaps?