Dhulkii loo ballanqaaday, 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 Land Ballanqaadka 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.
Laakiin filimku sinaba uma soo bandhigo dhammaan, ama xitaa inta badan, dhibaatooyinka badan ee la yimaada jabka, si aad u yar u samee si cad oo lagu qanci karo. Dhibaatada koowaad ee ay leedahay waa tan dhabta ah ee wasakheynta dhulka iyo biyaha. Tani waxay ku dhacdaa natiijada kiimikooyinka sunta ah, ee lagu qaso biyaha iyo ciidda, kuwaas oo lagu qasbo inay hoos u dhigaan shaleecada cadaadis culus si ay u jebiyaan dhagaxa oo ay u sii daayaan gaasta ku jira. Qaar ka mid ah isku dhafka sunta ah ayaa soo noqda, oo ay la socdaan methane, oo ah walaxda asaasiga ah ee gaasta dabiiciga ah, waxaana jira tiro badan oo dhacdooyin gaar ah oo dhimasho ah dhirta iyo xayawaanka, jirrooyinka bini'aadamka iyo biyaha sumowga ka dib taas oo caddayn cad u ah dhibaatadan halista ah.
But there are many more that Land Ballanqaadka 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, Land Ballanqaadka is not the movie to watch.
Land Ballanqaadka 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.
Mid yar laakiin tusaale sheegi kara ayaa ah marka nin dhalinyaro ah uu aad ugu faraxsan yahay hodantinimada suurtagalka ah ee uu u malaynayo inuu ka faa'iidaysan doono saxeexa heshiis kiraysi ilaa Damon oo wata baabuur cusub oo qurxoon. Sababtoo ah muuqaal hore, daawadayaasha filimku waxay og yihiin in lacagta uu ka heli doono gaasta dhulkiisa hoostiisa, haddii ay jirto, malaha ma bixin doonto kharashka gaarigan. Waqtigaas Damon waxa uu la halgamaya damiirkiisa, oo marka uu eego baabuurka qaaliga ah iyo ninka dhalinyarada ah waxaad dareemi kartaa xanaaqiisa, dembigiisa waxa laga yaabo inuu sameeyay.
Hal Holbrook waxa uu wax ku ool u yahay sidii macalin ka weyn oo xariif ah oo hadal badan kaas oo ah qofka kaliya ee reer magaalka ah, marka hore, ka warqaba qaar ka mid ah khataraha fracking oo diyaar u ah in uu istaago oo u sheego si fagaare ah. Nasiib darro, marka uu sidaas sameeyo markii ugu horeysay, wuxuu sidoo kale ku tilmaamay gaaska "nadiif", kaas oo aan gabi ahaanba ahayn. Isagu, si kastaba ha ahaatee, wuxuu door muhiim ah ka ciyaaraa dadaalka guusha leh ee filimka si uu uga hortago nolosha goobta, bulshada, qiyamka weligeed ah ee ka soo horjeeda dhagarta iyo hunguriga ay wadaan dhaqanka shirkadaha oo aan dhib ku qabin burburinta wax kasta oo jidka ah.
There’s a lot of food for thought in Land Ballanqaadka, 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.