‘FrackNation’ director says Midlanders need to ‘fight back’

The documentary "FrackNation" will screen at Cinergy Cinemas in Odessa on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. The documentary "FrackNation" will screen at Cinergy Cinemas in Odessa on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close ‘FrackNation’ director says Midlanders need to ‘fight back’ 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

“Midland people need to fight back.”

That’s the message from “FrackNation” co-director Phelim McAleer for the Permian Basin while he was here ahead of the documentary’s screening on Wednesday.

“FrackNation” was screened at Cinergy Cinemas in Odessa and was hosted by the Texas Tech University School of Law Energy Law program. Visiting professor Bill Keffer helped arrange the event and bring McAleer and co-director Ann McElhinney to the area for a Q&A after the showing.

The documentary made its debut in January 2013 amid an unprecedented oil and gas boom fueled by the innovation of combining horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. “Gasland,” a documentary highly critical of hydraulic fracturing, was released in 2010.

Hydraulic fracturing is a well completion method by which large amounts of water, proppant and chemicals are sent downhole under high pressure to crack shale formations in order to release oil and natural gas.

“Gasland” claims fracturing pollutes groundwater. In perhaps its most famous scene, a Dimock, Pennsylvania, homeowner’s tap water is set on fire because it contained methane.

Longtime journalist McAleer confronted filmmaker Josh Fox at an event in Chicago and presented evidence that methane in water has long been a problem in the area, citing a 1976 report that stated an alarming amount of methane was in the aquifer. According to a video of the confrontation available on YouTube — which Fox sued to have removed but which is still available — Fox admits that methane in the water table has long been a problem but that it wasn’t included in “Gasland” because he felt it wasn’t relevant to the Dimock incident.

This spurred McAleer to make his own documentary in an attempt to debunk what “Gasland” presented as fact and louden the voice of opposition.

“Eventually I said this guy is lying and he’s trying to shut me up. I’m from Northern Ireland, and no one tries to shut me up,” he told the Reporter-Telegram ahead of Wednesday’s screening. “George Orwell once said, ‘Journalism is something that someone somewhere doesn’t want published.’ I thought this guy doesn’t want this published and there’s a good story here. I need to let him know he can’t shut me up.”

McAleer said the anti-fracturing movement has only grown in the years since “FrackNation” was released.

“The anti-fracking movement has spread rather than (have gotten) smaller. It’s an international virus now based on emotion, misrepresentation and anecdote, not any scientific facts.”

Still, he said his message has been successful.

“One of my proudest achievements is I finally killed the ‘fracking makes your water go on fire’ myth. Actually, it’s not a myth — it’s a lie. The sad thing is, Josh Fox knew he was lying. He’s an unethical journalist, and ‘Gasland’ is an unethical documentary.”

McAleer said oil companies are picked on because they’re easy targets and they should fight back.

“Oil companies that embrace environmental extremists are embracing their own enemy. They need to stand up for themselves and fight against the lies. There’s a slight tendency nowadays for some oil companies to portray themselves as some kind of friends to the green movement. Winston Churchill said something like appeasement is feeding a crocodile and hoping he’ll eat you last.”

Wednesday’s Q&A was one of many McAleer and McElhinney have participated in over the years. The single-most question asked has been about motivation. “People want to know what the motivation of people like Josh Fox is. Why did they lie? Why do people who claim their water was polluted when it wasn’t, why did they lie? It’s a mixture of greed.”

McAleer called Fox a “fossil fuel ideologue” and also said anti-fracturing advocates have a “15-minutes-of-fame motivation,” citing vocal celebrities such as Yoko Ono, Mark Ruffalo, Jimmy Kimmel and Lady Gaga.

The Northern Ireland-native’s message doesn’t change when he’s in areas such as Midland and Odessa, which are steeped in the oil and gas industries. “People say don’t preach to the choir. The choir needs to practice. They may sound good on Sunday, but they practice on Tuesday and Thursday,” he said.

McAleer said he didn’t come to West Texas to lecture its residents. Rather, his mission is to get its residents motivated because there is a lot on the line in the nation’s largest oil patch.

“I know you’re working very hard and that you’re busy, but this anti-fracking and anti-fossil fuel movement and ideology is an existential threat to your livelihood and to the prosperity of America and the prosperity of the world,” he said. “You need to get more screenings like this; get it into schools and universities.”

“FrackNation” isn’t McAleer’s and McElhinney’s only effort. This year, they released the book “Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer,” the story of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell and his conviction and life sentence for killing several infants and two women. Their film “Gosnell: America’s Biggest Serial Killer” is expected to be released this year.

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