We’ve talked a lot about the process known as “fracking” here on the Arkansas Blog. Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, a process used by natural gas drillers to extract gas from shale formations deep underground. Basically, a well is drilled, then millions of gallons of water, combined with a lot of chemicals, are forced down into the well at extremely high pressures, cracking the shale formations and releasing the gas. It’s kind of complicated. But ProPublica, an organization that has done extensive reporting on fracking throughout the country, and Studio 20 at New York University have teamed up to make an explainer video that actually isn’t terrible. The video is just one more piece of ProPublica’s reporting on the issue, which you can find here. From Studio 20’s blog:

My Water’s On Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song)” is not meant to take the place of the rich, detailed investigation done by Abrahm Lustgarten and the rest of ProPublica’s frack squad. It’s impossible to sum up a massive, immersive experience like “Buried Secrets” in a two-and-a-half minute song. Instead, the intent is to bring people in, to create an easily digestible package that compels news consumers to dig into the real meat of the story.