Meet the Frackers: Energy Independence or Environmental Nightmare

Originally aired on the Australian news series Foreign Correspondent, this short documentary looks at the controversy over the North American fuel industry's game-changing new gambit: shale-oil extraction, aka "fracking," a method of removing vast petro-reserves from underground mineral deposits. The pros: U.S. energy independence and the creation of boomtowns that could help reverse the recession's chronic joblessness. The cons: fracking can release a cauldron of toxic chemicals into the ecosystem. Much oil-rich shale underlies affluent suburbs in Texas, home to many children and worried parents. One affected interviewee, a Democrat landowner who defines herself as an environmentalist, is in favor of fracking. Does she know something the alarmists don't, or is she merely looking for lots of money? Viewers will also see footage from filmmaker Josh Fox's now-famous anti-fracking documentary Gasland (VL-11/11), with its alarming imagery of drinking water igniting into flame straight out of the kitchen faucet (Gasland 2 was recently released in theaters). Offering a more or less impartial journalistic examination of a literally burning issue, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)