Gasland Part II

When I saw Gasland for the first time last week, it's safe to say I was far past the state of shock, not because of what was happening because of hydraulic fracturing but just of what the actions taken by natural gas companies could mean for the general state of America. Has public opinion and the voice of the people become muffled to the point of unrecognizable murmurs? It's a scary reality we're a bit late on facing.

The film was interesting, to say the least, but was bogged down by questionable stylistic choices, odd, cloying narration, and facts that would likely go over the viewer's head. Now we have Gasland: Part II, a film that goes a bit further by showing the political/global effects on hydraulic fracturing (also known as "fracking") and how affected townspeople have refused to sit idly by and watch their liberties and wellbeing be disregarded tastelessly.

Filmmaker Josh Fox returns to tackle this subject again, not just showing that he has done his homework but also the optional extra credit. Through all his research, analysis, and thought, he has probably given this subject as much or more thought than a college kid currently studying a specific field. His dedication and enthusiasm for the subject is terrific. We open with shots of the oil-ridden Gulf of Mexico, reminding us that the summer of 2010 was hell for not just the Gulf but the residents of the bayou, who experienced hellish living conditions and grossly low profits thanks to oil contamination in their waters. We then learn that BP planes were instructed to hose down the Gulf in chemicals that were supposed to be reducing the impact of the oil. However, the chemicals were revealed that only smother the oil and force it lower to the depths of the waters; it was a blatant cover-up, not a solution.

What follows is almost the same as the original Gasland film in terms of approach; it utilizes the method of reciting many facts and history-pieces, however, in a more concise and understandable way. At least for the first two halves because by the third half, everything has become a bit of a muchness and we're channeling the lines of "Gasland: Part III."

The film is dedicated to three main pieces of the fracking case and uses them all to a solid effect. Its first is showing how constant drilling and methane contamination has left the small town of Dimock, Pennsylvania with an unreliable water supply, filled with unpronounceable chemicals. The second is showing how many townspeople have taken action and stood up for their rights as people of the United States. One man claims he used to be a Republican, but since unforgivable tactics have taken place in his hometown he has since become an independent. After all, private ownership is a direct principle to conservative ideology. The final point is to not belittle but show how even the so-called elite - white, male business owners who have done so much as erect an entire home off of money they've made themselves - aren't immune to the practice of fracking. Even they can be treated like second class citizens and weakened by the lack of regulation on the practice.

Fox's sleepy narration is still in place, but he seems to have woken up a bit since the last film. Moreover, the amount of respect I have for the man himself has grown with this followup film. Fox is more than a talking head with a discernible opinion. It took me to the middle of this film to realize he has an incredible passion for one- man activism, and that his banjo-playing, artistic locational shooting, and quirky sendoffs are more driven to influence and showcase a personality rather than quasi-varietal nonsense. He is a strong man, brave and gutful in his actions of attacking an industry armed with everything in their power to silence the common men and whistleblowers like him. He even gets arrested for attempting to film a public meeting on the matter of natural gas extraction. Not many would've continued fighting a towering man in a cop outfit over something like that.

Gasland: Part II is a notable increase in quality from the redundancy and complexities that were the preceding documentary. It is a lot more poetic and artful in its shots, as well as informing and thought-provoking in its arguments and justifications without the elements that seemed to alienate viewers of the previous film. It's safe to say Fox's impact on the hydraulic fracturing debate have been immense, but his environmentalist impact has begun to surface quite notably.

NOTE: Gasland: Part II premiered on HBO at 8pm central time on Monday July 8, 2013 and will air throughout the months of July and August on the network.

Starring: Josh Fox. Directed by: Josh Fox.

If you are a fan of HBO's notorious left leaning "documentaries" then this one will not disappoint you. If you have your own brain and can think independently and do a little of your own research you will find this documentary to be worthless.

"What I didn't know was that the 2005 energy bill pushed through Congress by Dick Cheney exempts the oil and natural gas industries from the Safe Drinking Water Act. They were also exempt from the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Superfund law, and about a dozen other environmental and Democratic regulations."

Dick Cheney didn't do any harm to the Federal Clean Air Act because there is no "Halliburton Loophole" statutory law amendment of the Clean Air Act contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2005; you can read it for yourself.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that the Federal Clean Air Act has never been amended to incorporate a categorical oil and gas industry exemption from the fundamental jurisdictional requirements of the Act. Josh Fox's claim that the oil and gas industry has some sort of categorical exemption from regulation and that hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas industry process equipment and facilities are exempted from regulation under the Federal Clean Air Act is fabrication and erroneous conflation. The Federal Clean Air Act affords U.S. EPA full jurisdiction over emissions from the oil and gas industry. This statutory jurisdiction takes place both directly and through the states through development of federally approved and federally enforceable state implementation plans under Section 110 of the Clean Air Act.

Also, contrary to Gasland claims, there is no exemption contained in the Federal Clean Water Act either that is a categorical exemption of the oil and gas industry from jurisdiction under the Act for hydraulic fracturing process wastewater.....another Gasland falsehood.

I could go on but what's the point? Get you news from Bill Maher and never read anything of fact then make your own documentary about how G.W. Bush is causing the continuous failure of the Obama administration.

The saying, "Power Corrupts And Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" is/was coined to denote the world of Politicians, Politics, Corporations and Institutions!

The man who made this exact, precise and totally correct quote was the Historian, Lord Actons. He quoted/stated/warned that power tended to corrupt, and that absolute power corrupted absolutely. He applied this particular statement to individuals, institutions, and governments, way back in 1887, but it is as relevant today as it was on the day he said it!

Much of politics is riddled with corruption from individuals who receive/gain power (from a countries inhabitants who make the same errors repeatedly, over and over again by electing wealthy, egotistical and greedy candidates). People who have absolutely no interest in the peoples wants or needs and have sought status as a politician so they can act upon their own selfish greed for personal gain; they ignore all individuals that they are supposed to be helping!

Josh Fox does a very good job of getting that across in this, his 2nd documentary about GASLAND, film. The bad part of his exposé is the terrible camera work that is wobbly, shaky and darting about all over the place throughout the documentary; its little things that are just as annoying as politicians 😄.

I usually find that when you have a certain type of negative reviews (such as those made here) , they are either from people who are totally ignorant of understanding the the seriousness of a hazardous problem, or they, and perhaps family members, have some kind of vested interest; financially or job related!

I lived for a short time in America (had a great time too) and a major thing I noticed was that the majority of Americans are seriously/totally ignorant/unknowing of places and events in/on their own planet. They are all about our America is the best etc, and just ignore everything happening around, and outside, of their shallow existences. Others I met who had minds that thought about the world beyond 'Yankee Doodles' shores, were extremely knowledgeable about their own country's misgivings; and those of the worlds too!

The corruption exposed here is so blatant by crooked companies and political officials, from Governors and their lackey's, all the way to the White-house and the Senate! The breakdown of US society has been extremely evident for a number of years and it will eventually erupt into serious rioting and violence. Fracking will be a big cause of it (in a follow on time of massive deteriorating health factors to millions of citizens). But of course, the huge problems will stem from the ever increasing gap between the extremely poor and the extremely wealthy!

The mindless zombies supporting this twaddle are going to tell you everyone who debunks this crap is in the pay of someone with an interest in promoting fracking. They SAY you should just research for yourself, but they will then TELL you that anyone who calls them "fools" is just lying.

Ask yourself a simple question: Are there not jobs to be had working for environmental organizations? Is there not a tremendous amount of money in the Green Lobby, as well? So don't buy their garbage that they are any more honorable and forthright than their opposition. They have money and jobs on the line, too. They have an AGENDA, just as much as the oil companies.

And DO do your own research. Here's one from a site the anti-frackers deprecate as "in the pay of the oil companies"... http://energyindepth.org/Texas/flaming-water-nobody-acknowledge/

Pictures -- yes, PICTURES from BEFORE any of the fracking was started showing that the groundwater there was ALREADY highly flammable... exactly as has been claimed by the companies under attack.

So think about that while watching this, and go hunt up the video of the director openly claiming the facts didn't matter, he had a story to tell.

This "documentary" ranks right up there with Triumph Of The Will as a piece of work.

It's us. The people. Jobs. Security. Television. Private property. Yale. West Point. Wal Mart. CNN. A new truck. A roasted turkey. Everyone of the complaining parties in the land "Gasland" portraits seems to own a pickup truck. I saw only big trucks. New trucks. Bought with the money the gas and oil corporations paid them for their land to be fracked. Then the chemicals started leaking. Water ruined. The big wake-up. Too late. Money already pocketed, truck bought, TV bought, disclosure agreement signed. Too late.

Truck drivers don't care. We don't care until our own water supply is being taken from us.

I genuinely do appreciate this documentary. It does not only expose the irreparable damage caused by fracking, but it exposes (perhaps without being aware of it) how it is happening. What Homeland America made of? It shows who is fracking who. Corporations only pocked the profit. The 1% doesn't drive hundreds of thousands of trucks. The 1% doesn't drill and operate hundreds of thousands of wells. They pay off our government the same way they pay off us. Disclosure agreement signed.

Vietnam veterans. Iraq veterans. Afghanistan veterans. War criminals in my eyes. Or perhaps 'only' the truck drivers of war criminals 'protecting' the Homeland by destroying other peoples home land continents away. Where is Iraq again? Afghanistan? Is there perhaps oil to be drilled or pipelines to be build in these far away foreign home lands? Let's get them some freedom. Let's get them some truckloads of freedom. Bombs first. Then American Sniper. Then American Halliburton. It's also red. Like Coca Cola. And blood. Blood and stripes.

American war veterans are now being the victims of the corporations they helped so successfully to grow in power.

America is fracking itself.

Go and watch American Sniper. Support war. Don't care about Iraqi citizens. They are all terrorists. They are not citizens anymore. They don't have a country anymore. It has been fracked away from them. It's been drilled apart by Halliburton. You were driving the tanks and the trucks then. You are still driving the trucks now, in your backyard.

How many wells across the US?

How many truckloads needed for one well?

How many truck drivers?

Who cares about your water?

There is no Corporate America. There is no Halliburton. There is only us working for them. To have a job. A new big Ford F250. A TV in the kitchen, to watch the 'news' while we roast our turkeys. Two cars. Three cars. Thank you very much.

On another note, how many ethnic, African American, Native Indian, Asian American, Latino American land owners did we meet in this film? None. The only African American we encounter in this portrait of America are one child and one President.

Also, once we ruined all our drinking water what do we think will happen next? The price for drinking water will sky rocket. And guess who will own the only clean drinking water wells then? I've got a good feeling about it. Thank you very much.