I am a biologist/geologist and I have worked as a public servant with the Rocky Mountain Water Shed Watch for over 10 years and prior I worked for the Game and Fish dept. I too am concerned and welcome any credible science that can identify environmental problems. I guess where I have a serious credibility issue with Josh Fox “Gasland” documentary is where he states that the deer and antelope around Pinedale Wyoming are now on the endangered species list as a direct result from fracking. The deer and antelope are on no such list and Wyoming boast the largest antelope herd in North America. Josh fox next shows a Jonah gas well and cleverly edit fades to a pristine view of the Grand Tetons and mentions that these gas wells are nestled on the foothills of Grand Teton National Park. WTF! someone needs a geography lesson here. Most folks don’t know this area and react in total horror when led around by the nose. As a local I was offended at his blatant dis information and clever editing for total shock value. As a environmental scientist we write and critique studies and if you start off with lies, even if you add good credible data later, you have already discredited yourself and your cause. I guess I am tired of everything being dumbed down and staged like a bad reality show…we need some credible science even if it is dull and boring without all the bells and whistles so we can really identify a serious problem and soberly try to fix it. When fame seeking people knowingly add just one blatant lie to further their cause.. you have sold out completely. people like Josh Fox are looking for quick fame with sensationalism using shock tactics may have brought him fame and fortune but is counter productive for folks slogging it out in the field.. he could have made a credible documentary with some real science but he made a conscience decision to take the low road. This also goes for the oil field folks who say there has never been a bad fracking job ever! C’mon lets get real and stop the B.S. lies! I am amazed at the amount of dis information and how many folks swallow it all. More disturbing is to knowingly ignore a few lies as long as it furthers a passionate cause. This lowers the bar for real science credibility when we really need to fix a problem and educate the public. I bet you hear a lot of “yeah but” or “what about the guy who” when you bring these inconsistencies up to either side of the fence ..again totally ignoring that it is OK to lie as long as it furthers your own cause. Look at what the real cause for the BP Gulf disaster was…a bad cement casing job. That is what state and BLM compliance inspectors are now watching closely..proper casing jobs not as much with the fracking evolution and there is science and lots of data backing this critical procedure to be completed properly.

” Ernst Janning: Judge Haywood… the reason I asked you to come: Those people, those millions of people… I never knew it would come to that. You *must* believe it, *You must* believe it!
Judge Dan Haywood: Herr Janning, it came to that the *first time* you sentenced a man to death you *knew* to be innocent.”

Documentaries (and I use that term generously in this case) like GasLand target emotions, not minds. Playing people’s emotions is easy, and and is the most efficient way of creating lasting publicity, and thus income. Factual information gathered from multiple reliable sources, having undergone extensive real-world testing and peer review is boring, and ignored by the target audiences of these kinds of films. Film-making is a business enterprise which requires significant investment, and if you want to profit, you have to connect with your audience emotionally. Feelings are remembered, information is forgotten quickly.

Keep that in mind before you let your emotions drive your decison-making.

And Monex, if you are concerned about water quality in that region, you should be targeting the coal industry, not the gas drillers. Plenty there to hate on. What the coal industry is doing in the eastern US has been likened to genocide, and it’s not such a far-reaching comparison, even to a pro-mining guy like myself. Burning coal (globally) is the main reason we have mercury in our lakes, rivers, and fish – see links below for source.

Balance the risk versus reward, and gas wins hands-down. Now, I don’t mean to say that gas is the answer. Just that your voice of opposition would be far better directed towards something that’s actually worth opposing.

Some stuff to get you started:

http://www.epa.gov/hg/about.htm

http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_in_the_united_states

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/usa-coal-study-idUSN169888020110216

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6462-2004Aug16?language=printer

.Marcellus Shale Fracking it is totally unnecessary as well as sheer waste of pristine waters beautiful forests and resources!

Natural gas is used for far more things than heating homes. There is a heavy commercial demand to create items such as:
Fertilizer
anti-freeze and other chemicals
diamond coatings
Power generation (combined cycle plants are very efficient).

No natural gas = poor, starving world.

As for forest being destroyed. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have far more forest cover than decades and especially a century ago. Modern fertilizers (from fossil fuels) and pesticides (again.. fossil fuels) created a agriculture revolution. You no longer needed to clear-cut forests in order to meet the food needs of a nation. Vermont and New Hampshire used to be almost all farmland, with wild turkeys and other life near extinction. Now Vermont is mostly forest.