Oil Dependence and Fracking

What are some advantages of fracking?

Fracking has several advantages. Because fracking makes the extraction of oil and gases easier, it promotes the oil industry and eventually lowers oil prices. (“What is Fracking,” 2018, para. 22). Moreover, fracking also creates a lot of jobs. In fact, as of 2012, more than 2.5 million people are working in the fracking industry all around the world (King, 2012, p. 2). In addition, fracking industries can also financially help farmers. For example, FrackNation shows that some farmers who allowed fracking facilities to be built on their land near their farms received some financial support from fracking companies. The farmers invested the money into their farming process, and their results of farming improved. In short, fracking industries can promote not only the oil industry but also agriculture.

Why are people concerned about fracking?

However, even though fracking has these advantages, the concern from fracking is continuous because of the possibility of environmental pollution and health problems caused by fracking.

The Battle between GasLand and FrackNation

When GasLand was released in 2010, it brought fracking to the world’s attention. Because Josh Fox showed diverse negative effects of fracking, people who were impressed by GasLand started anti-fracking movements. However, one documentary filmmaker, Phelim McAleer, had questions about the credibility of GasLand and began to make the documentary, FrackNation, which criticizes Fox’s anti-fracking argument. Both films try to convince the audience with their respective opinions by using different methods.

GasLand explains the risks of fracking mostly based on personal stories of those who are affected by the drilling process. Because the base of Fox’s arguments is individual experiences, this film approaches the audience from a more emotional angle than FrackNation. Especially, scenes like one man lighting his tap water on fire exploit viewers’ fears against fracking.

On the contrary to GasLand, FrackNation claims that fracking is not as dangerous as Fox argues. McAleer develops his argument based on alleged truths about fracking by utilizing diverse interviews with professionals and people who support fracking. Throughout the interviews, professionals assert the safety of the fracking process, thus FrackNation seems to successfully rebut Fox’s argument.

However, it is true that both films have drawbacks because they only present selective information. In GasLand, Josh Fox only focuses on the negative effects of fracking. He only interviewed people who argued they were damaged from fracking. In FrackNation, Phelim McAleer only focuses on specific places such as Dimmock and Dish. He did not show a comprehensive picture of the fracking situation in America. Even though both films have limitations, FrackNation analyzed the issue of fracking more rhetorically successful than GasLand. Therefore, it seems that FrackNation is more likely to convince the audience than GasLand.

As these two documentaries clearly demonstrate, fracking is still a controversial issue. It remains up to us to consider both perspectives about fracking and judge which information is more trustworthy and credible.

Conclusion

Fracking is an effective technology that can easily extract natural gases and oil from shale rocks. The fracking industry can create a lot of jobs and promote the oil industry, which results in a decrease in oil prices. Moreover, because farmers can receive financial support from oil companies when they provide their lands to the company for fracking, the fracking industry can also help agriculture. Nevertheless, some controversies about fracking still exist. Fracking causes various health and environmental problems including water pollution, air pollution, and possibly earthquakes. Even though FrackNation seems to be more persuasive than GasLand, the decision of whether fracking is an essential technology for the future is still ours. Thus, individuals need to actively consider all available information on fracking in order to judge the true environmental impacts of fracking.