A nonfiction film about hydraulic fracturing aimed largely at debunking Josh Fox’s Oscar-nominated Gasland, FrackNation is a slice of agitated environmental pushback, an impassioned but slapdash cinematic rebuttal masquerading as a legitimate investigative documentary.
Directed by right-leaning filmmaker Phelim McAleer, who’s previously taken antagonistic runs at Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and environmentalism more generally, FrackNation bills itself as an exploration for the truth about the petroleum and natural gas extraction method known widely by its shorthand nickname of fracking. In much the same fashion as Michael Moore in his earlier works, McAleer casts himself as a crusading journalist wading into the fray for answers, speaking truth to power and demanding accountability from bureaucracy.
Certainly FrackNation is interesting and valuable for the voice it lends to residents of Dimock, Pennsylvania (one of the chief settings of Gasland), who don’t feel any threat to their drinking water or health from mining. It shows, quite capably, the difference of opinion in this town. The problem is that McAleer fancies those espousing environmental concerns as “green extremists,” and by and large treats the fact that both local and national opinions of support for fracking exist as disproving evidence that anyone could have any issues with water potability or other health problems caused by fracking.
The movie makes the spurious leap of logic that the fact that there are some examples of methane present in drinking water dating back many decades as proof that no drinking water is so contaminated by fracking, and takes as gospel the word of mining companies in regard to the inviolability of their methods. FrackNation addresses the proprietary (read: secret) chemical additives pumped into the ground in massive amounts during fracking only by having a scientist say that the same thing could be true about coffee (!), and it does not address at all the crucially important issue of the storage and disposal of waste water run-off.
FrackNation is emblematic of some of the worst aspects of lazy social-activist filmmaking, both right and left (see also: Top Priority: The Terror Within, a documentary about Department of Homeland Security whistleblower Julia Davis), in that it throws out a bunch of tidbits of information and theories about adversaries’ motivations without much regard to a cogent macro argument. In McAleer’s case, this includes everything from a sourcing allegation about a specific insert shot in Gasland and a weak character assassination on a public official with adjudicating authority on a fracking bill to the assertion that American environmentalists are perhaps somehow in league with a Russian energy mafia determined to monopolize the future of natural gas shale drilling.
Most problematically, however, FrackNation peddles a false narrative. In striking minor nativist chords about how the generations-old livelihoods of rural Americans are at risk by environmental activists, McAleer completely ignores the many other difficult external economic realities facing small, family-owned farms being swallowed up by conglomerates. If a farmer absolutely requires the additional income of leasing his land for natural gas drilling in order to sustain his business, is the primary threat to that way of life those who seek transparency, tighter regulation and/or, yes, even a ban of hydraulic fracturing?
FrackNation is not a totally hackish work, but it does start from a bogus and willfully cordoned off point-of-view, and exhibits a desire to grind axes more than uncover truth. Promulgating the rather ludicrous claim that Big Media — that familiar right-wing boogeyman — has peddled fear-mongering about fracking, the movie wraps itself in a cloak of besieged indignity, content to scream “Fair and Balanced!” rather than engage in a more honest exchange of ideas. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. For more information on the movie, which opens in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Pasadena Playhouse 7, click here to visit its website. (Hard Boiled Films, unrated, 77 minutes)
4 thoughts on “FrackNation”
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Brent Simon, you sir are obviously anti-fracking and have used this movie to preach your beliefs using bold font, instead of actually reviewing the movie. To address one of your concerns “does not address at all the crucially important issue of the storage and disposal of waste water run-off”, we have a company in my area that supplies all the water used by the gas companies for their drilling activities. They actually get the water back after it’s been used and they recycle it. I can’t imagine the gas companies not doing this everywhere. In my community, the oil and gas companies contribute a lot by paving roads that were in bad shape before they arrived as well as providing scholarships to students in my area. It seems to me they are making more of an effort to give back than the activists do. We’ve had activists open up crude oil tanks in protest. Do you know what 1500 gallons of crude oil does to the environment let alone ground water? In my town there are many extremist, band wagon activists. They’re fueled by people, such as yourself, that print their beliefs on the internet or post ranting videos on youtube, and choose to accept it as fact. They don’t know much about “fracking”, they simply refuse to learn or seek the truth because they are so involved with their like minded group of friends or lazy. Let me remind you of another time when people were involved in a belief despite the obvious truths. Adolf Hitler persuaded a bunch of his peers that then printed their beliefs and their society began accepting it as fact. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good that there are people that are concerned about the oil and gas activities, without them I think those companies would take short cuts at the risk of polluting ground water and the environment. The fact is, there isn’t a single case of contaminated well water from “fracking” activities. You can check with the EPA.
You are obviously anti-frackingFrank Nation reveals all the facts about the lie made up by Josh Fox. The company of the oil and gas lease shown admits it’d not even his lease. So from square one he was lying. What about the water? It was tested buddy and fracking does nothing to the water. The facts actually come out in this movie and all the lies that Josh told get shut down and the truth actually comes out. All Josh does in Gasland is lie. That’s the truth of it. Just some person trying to make money by telling nothing that is correct. This exposes the truth unlike him. You are just an ignorant person who refuses to believe the truth when it’s right in front of you.
The film was really engaging with its thoughts, its views and political pandering. It has explicit stands on each issue they take up. I watched the movie at a stretch and was moved by the guts to film a movie like this.
Did it not strike you as odd, Brent, that Josh Fox wouldn’t be interviewed for this movie? What about the the Sauter’s reactions to the EPA telling them their water was good?
I’m afraid all I can give you for your review of Fracknation is a big fat F.