Ala nkwa, 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 Ala Nkwa 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.
Ma ihe nkiri ahụ na-egosi na ọ dịghị ụzọ ọ bụla, ma ọ bụ ọbụna ọtụtụ, n'ime ọtụtụ nsogbu ndị na-abịa na fracking, dị nnọọ obere ime otú ahụ n'ụzọ doro anya na n'ụzọ doro anya. Nsogbu bụ́ isi ọ na-eweta bụ kpọmkwem nke mmetọ ala na mmiri. Nke a na-eme n'ihi kemịkalụ na-egbu egbu, gwakọtara ya na mmiri na ájá, nke a na-amanye n'ime shale n'okpuru nrụgide siri ike iji gbajie nkume ma hapụ gas dị n'ime ya. Ụfọdụ n'ime ihe ndị ahụ na-egbu egbu na-alọghachi azụ, yana methane, bụ isi ihe na-emepụta gas, na e nwere ọnụ ọgụgụ dị ukwuu nke ihe atụ kpọmkwem nke ọnwụ osisi na anụmanụ, ọrịa mmadụ na nsị mmiri na-emesịa bụ ihe àmà doro anya nke nsogbu a siri ike.
But there are many more that Ala Nkwa 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, Ala Nkwa is not the movie to watch.
Ala Nkwa 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.
Otu obere ma na-egosi ihe atụ bụ mgbe nwa okorobịa nwere oke obi ụtọ maka akụ na ụba ọ na-eche na ọ ga-enweta site na ịbanye n'akwụkwọ mgbazinye na-ebuga Damon n'ime ụgbọ ala ọhụrụ mara mma. N'ihi ihe nkiri mbụ, ndị na-ekiri ihe nkiri maara na ego ọ ga-enweta site na gas dị n'okpuru ala ya, ọ bụrụ na ọ dị, ọ ga-abụ na ọ gaghị akwụ ụgwọ ụgbọ ala a. N'oge ahụ Damon na-agbasi mbọ ike na akọ na uche ya, na ka ọ na-ele anya ụgbọ ala dị oké ọnụ ahịa na nwa okorobịa ahụ, ị nwere ike inwe mmetụta nke iwe ya, ikpe ọmụma ya maka ihe ọ nwere ike ime.
Hal Holbrook dị irè dị ka onye nkụzi toro eto nke maara ihe ma na-ekwu okwu bụ naanị onye obodo, na mbụ, mara ụfọdụ ihe egwu dị na fracking ma dị njikere ibili kwuo ya n'ihu ọha. N'ụzọ dị mwute, mgbe ọ na-eme ya na nke mbụ ya, ọ na-akọwakwa gas dị ka "dị ọcha," nke ọ bụghị kpamkpam. Otú ọ dị, ọ na-ekere òkè dị mkpa na mgbalị ihe nkiri ahụ na-aga nke ọma iji gbochie ndụ ebe, nke obodo, nke ụkpụrụ ebighi ebi megide atụmatụ aghụghọ na anyaukwu nke ụlọ ọrụ na-akpata nke na-enweghị ihe isi ike ibibi ihe ọ bụla n'ụzọ ya.
There’s a lot of food for thought in Ala Nkwa, 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.