Beloofde lân, the new movie starring Matt Damon, is a movie in part about fracking, the new and extremely problematic way of getting natural gas out of shale rock far below the earth’s surface. It’s a very good movie, with good acting, particularly by Damon in a very different role than, for example, his Jason Bourne trilogy. Instead of being a kick-ass former CIA assassin on a mission to reclaim his memory and the truth about what was done to him, in Beloofde lân Damon is a conflicted, conscience-stricken, corporate hot shot “land man” using bribes and threats, when necessary, to get people in a small, rural town to agree to let their town be fracked.
Mar de film presintearret op gjin inkelde manier alle, of sels de measte, fan 'e protte problemen dy't komme mei fracking, folle minder dogge dat op in dúdlike en oertsjûgjende manier. It primêre probleem dat it docht is it heul echte probleem fan fersmoarging fan lân en wetter. Dat bart as gefolch fan de giftige gemikaliën, mongen mei wetter en sân, dy't ûnder swiere druk yn 'e skalie twongen wurde om de rots te brekken en it gas deryn frij te litten. Guon fan dy giftige miks komt werom, tegearre mei metaan, de primêre yngrediïnt fan ierdgas, en d'r binne enoarme oantallen spesifike gefallen fan plant- en dierdea, minsklike sykte en wetterfergiftiging dêrnei dy't dúdlik bewiis binne fan dit serieuze probleem.
But there are many more that Beloofde lân doesn’t mention, much less explain:
· fracking’s huge and growing contribution to our global heating crisis: methane is 72-105 times as powerful a greenhouse gas as CO2 over the first 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere, and studies over the past two years, including by the EPA, show that there is much more methane leakage over the lifecycle of fracked, as well as conventionally-produced, natural gas, than the oil/gas industry admits;
· constant heavy truck traffic transporting water, sand and fracking fluids that pollutes surrounding air, causes damage to roads, creates traffic congestion and noise and other negative impacts;
· the contamination of rivers close to fracking sites through either deliberate dumping of “flowback” wastewater after a well is drilled or through migration of those fluids underground;
· the drawdown of massive amounts of sometimes-scarce—as in historically dry or dought-impacted areas—nearby river and lake water, many millions of gallons per well;
· documented radiation levels in wastewater 100 or more times the EPA’s drinking water standard;
· disruption of other economically-and socially-valued industries or practices, such as agriculture, tourism, hunting and fishing;
· fragmentation of woods and forests via construction of well sites, pipelines, roads and other infrastructure;
· a decline in property values of homes and land adjacent to or near wells; and,
· earthquakes: the United States Geological Survey has reported that deep underground injection of drilling wastewater is the probable cause of a six-fold increase in earthquakes in middle America in 2011 compared to 20th century levels.
So if you are looking for a movie about all of the negatives about fracking, Beloofde lân is not the movie to watch.
Beloofde lân is in many ways more a movie about corporate power, and the ideology that undergirds it, versus the power of an informed people and the old-but-still-good values of love for family, land, home, and the truth. The energy company that Damon works for is thoroughly despicable, while the individuals who work for it, like Damon and the character played by Frances McDormand, are shown as more complex, human, less corporatist in their ideology.
Ien lyts, mar sprekkend foarbyld is as in jonge man te optein is oer de potinsjele rykdom dy't hy tinkt dat hy sil winne troch it tekenjen fan in lease nei Damon rydt yn in fancy nije auto. Fanwegen in foarôfgeande sêne wit it filmpublyk dat it jild dat hy sil krije fan it gas ûnder syn lân, as d'r ien is, wierskynlik net sil betelje foar dizze auto. Op it stuit hat Damon muoite mei syn gewisse, en as er sjocht nei de djoere auto en de jonge man, kinne jo hast fiele syn eangst, syn skuld oer wat er dien hawwe kin.
Hal Holbrook is effektyf as in tûke en artikuleare âldere learaar dy't de ienige stedspersoan is, earst bewust fan guon fan 'e gefaren fan fracking en ree om op te stean en dat iepenbier te sizzen. Spitigernôch, as hy dat foar de earste kear docht, beskriuwt hy gas ek as "skjin", wat it perfoarst net is. Hy spilet lykwols in wichtige rol yn 'e suksesfolle poging fan' e film om in libben fan plak, fan mienskip, fan ivige wearden te tsjinjen tsjin 'e skelmjende en gierich-oandreaune bedriuwskultuer dy't gjin muoite hat om wat op syn manier te ferneatigjen.
There’s a lot of food for thought in Beloofde lân, and I hope large numbers of people see it.
Z
Ted Glick is the National Campaign Coordinator of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Past writings and other information can be found at http://tedglick.com, and he can be followed on twitter at http://twitter.com/jtglick.