By Michelle Kung
 - HBO
- A faucet lights up from the amount of natural gas in the water supply, in a scene from ‘Gasland.’
Last night, “Gasland” director Josh Fox stopped by “The Daily Show” to talk natural gas and corporate malfeasance with Jon Stewart. Fox is, and has been for the past year and a half, on a grassroots screening tour of the country that culminated in the premiere of his award-winning documentary on HBO last night. (Future screenings are planned for New York, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere).
The director of the experimental theater group the International WOW Company, Fox first became interested in the subject of natural gas after the Pennsylvania native was asked to lease his land for drilling. The inquiry led Fox to embark on a multi-state investigation of the natural gas companies, and their use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The process involves pumping large amounts of water deep underground, fracturing rock to release natural gas.
When asked about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Fox says he sees definite parallels to the natural gas industry. “It’s the same sort of situation in terms of the regulation atmosphere,” he said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “We’ve seen natural gas blowouts all over the country, and people are abandoning their homes because the industry won’t take responsibility for their actions.” Fox added that oftentimes individuals who either invest in natural gas or middle-managers who work at natural gas companies are shocked by what they see in his film.
Fox’s documentary has ruffled a few feathers and several natural gas-affiliated organizations are claiming that Fox has his facts wrong. But Fox says all the facts speak for themselves and can be looked up. “The natural gas industry’s PR system is so great, many people believe that natural gas is a good solution to climate change,” he said. “But it’s a dirty polluting fossil just like the others.”
Watch Fox on the “Daily Show” below.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart |
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c |
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