This American documentary by Josh Fox is being screened at the RPL Theatre tonight at 7 p.m. as part of Right to Know Week. It’s impetus came from an offer Fox received to lease his land to a company interested in using a revolutionary new technology called hydraulic fracturing or fracking to unlock a “Saudi Arabia” of natural gas from subterranean layers of shale across the U.S.
“Shale gas” has been in the news a bit lately, with industry types touting it as a solution to the U.S.’s chronic energy woes. Conservation, and the development of green sources of energy are other possible solutions, of course, but they don’t really jibe with the American mantra of growth, development and conspicuous consumption. But as Fox’s doc demonstrates, shale gas is far from benign in its impact on the environment. Here’s the trailer.
If you’re in the mood for a doublebill, screening at 9 p.m. as part of the same RTK film series is Countdown to Zero which traces the history of nuclear weapons from the invention of the A-Bomb in the mid-40s to present day — with nine nations possessing nuclear weapons, and others working to join them. Here’s the trailer.
