Lupang Pangako, 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 Ipinangako Land 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.
Ngunit ang pelikula sa anumang paraan ay hindi nagpapakita ng lahat, o kahit na karamihan, ng maraming mga problema na dulot ng fracking, lalo na ang gawin ito sa isang malinaw at nakakumbinsi na paraan. Ang pangunahing problema na ipinakita nito ay ang tunay na problema sa kontaminasyon ng lupa at tubig. Nangyayari ito bilang resulta ng mga nakakalason na kemikal, na may halong tubig at buhangin, na ipinipilit pababa sa shale sa ilalim ng mabigat na presyon upang basagin ang bato at palabasin ang gas sa loob nito. Ang ilan sa nakakalason na halo na iyon ay bumabalik, kasama ang methane, ang pangunahing sangkap ng natural na gas, at mayroong malaking bilang ng mga partikular na pagkakataon ng pagkamatay ng halaman at hayop, pagkakasakit ng tao at pagkalason sa tubig pagkatapos na malinaw na patunay ng seryosong problemang ito.
But there are many more that Ipinangako Land 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, Ipinangako Land is not the movie to watch.
Ipinangako Land 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.
Ang isang maliit ngunit kapansin-pansing halimbawa ay kapag ang isang kabataang lalaki ay labis na nasasabik tungkol sa mga potensyal na kayamanan na sa tingin niya ay makukuha niya sa pagpirma ng isang lease ay nagmaneho papunta kay Damon sakay ng isang magarbong bagong kotse. Dahil sa isang naunang eksena, alam ng manonood ng pelikula na ang perang makukuha niya mula sa gas sa ilalim ng kanyang lupa, kung mayroon man, ay malamang na hindi magbabayad para sa kotse na ito. Sa oras na nagpupumiglas si Damon sa kanyang konsensya, at habang tinitingnan niya ang mamahaling sasakyan at ang binata ay halos maramdaman mo ang kanyang angst, ang kanyang guilt sa maaaring nagawa niya.
Si Hal Holbrook ay epektibo bilang isang matalino at matalinong mas matandang guro na ang tanging taong-bayan, sa una, ay alam ang ilan sa mga panganib ng fracking at handang tumayo at sabihin ito sa publiko. Sa kasamaang palad, kapag ginawa niya ito sa unang pagkakataon, inilalarawan din niya ang gas bilang "malinis," na talagang hindi. Siya, gayunpaman, ay gumaganap ng isang mahalagang papel sa matagumpay na pagsisikap ng pelikula na kontrahin ang isang buhay ng lugar, ng komunidad, ng mga walang hanggang pagpapahalaga laban sa mapanlinlang at kasakiman na kultura ng korporasyon na hindi nahihirapang sirain ang anumang bagay sa paraan nito.
There’s a lot of food for thought in Ipinangako Land, 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.