Sunana Batra
Centennial Institute
at Colorado Christian University
7 May 2012
At the 35th Annual Heritage Foundation Resource Bank held in Colorado Springs, Nationally renowned documentary filmmaker Ann McElhinney spoke to attendees about her latest project called “FrackNation”. Her documentary tells the truth about fracking and responds to the propaganda-laden blatant lies and misrepresentations and pure rubbish meant to terrify people about fracking in the film “Gasland,” funded by HBO. “FrackNation” was filmed throughout the United States and Poland in areas where hydraulic fracturing, a way to extract natural gas from miles underneath the seabed, has been banned or is already happening. “Gasland” created concerns about the safety of fracking and was then used, much like a political cudgel, as the basis to ban fracking in many places, all based on unscientific, false claims and manipulation of reality.
McElhinney, who grew up in Ireland, but now resides in America, is well known for her production of other documentaries which debunked hysteria from environmentalists. One which focuses on the mining industry, is called “Mine Your Own Business.” That film exposes “The Darkside of Environmentalism.” And shows how environmentalists, from their lofty condos, deny the poor an opportunity to better themselves by denying them the opportunity for work. It is naïve to believe these people want to take away one form of energy and replace it with another. They want to take away America’s energy forever. Why might they want this? You see, people with access to secure, affordable sources of energy are free to create their own destinies. They have no need for reallocation of resources, social planning and recommendations from those that know better.
McElhinney showed the crowd of over 600 many clips from their filming all around the country. Many of these clips left the crowd speechless. She had interviews with farmers in upstate New York that have had farms in their family for five generations, farmers who ‘know every blade of grass’ on their land, who are being prevented from allowing extraction of their own natural gas under their own land. One farmer commented that “If the gas industry is not allowed in, I will have to divide my land and sell it for development. My son wants to farm, but he had to get a job in the city. I won’t be able to keep it for him.”
Essentially, the gas company is ready to hand over a check to these property owners for the privilege of extracting gas from their land, but outsiders are preventing these private property owners from doing what they wish with their own land…
Read the rest of this article at CCU.edu.
