PROMISED LAND.

farm & garden

Jan 12

Hannah and I don't often go to the movies unless there's something we really need or want to see––it is simply an expense too hard for us to usually justify. (Seriously, $10.50 for a matinee??). Last night, however, we saw a film we've been looking forward to for a while now: Promised Land.Although panned critically, we'd become increasingly interested in the fracking debate and thus increasingly interested in seeing this movie. "Fracking," or "hydraulic fracturing" is the method by which natural gas companies obtain their product. It involves sending a drill a mile into the earth with a bunch of water and chemicals to release natural gas up from the shale––in a nutshell––and has become increasingly more controversial over the last few years. You see, the side-effects of this procedure have been known to frequently contaminate water aquifers and wells, poison people, and kill wildlife. In other words, if your neighbor decides to let them drill, you can pretty much kiss your water source goodbye, thus the controversy and our interest.Promised Land is the story of a man (Matt Damon) who works for a giant, "9 billion dollar" natural gas company. His job is to go to small towns and lease land from farmers for his company to be able to drill, selling them the prospect of riches. And what the movie does really well is humanize a person capable of doing this; although you might (or might not) disagree with him, you empathize. However, he finds himself battling a young, charming environmentalist (played by John Krasinski) and a few outspoken townspeople over the possible issues with bringing fracking into their town.It's a clever story, and it's an important issue. There are cleaner sources of energy available than natural gas–-wind, solar, etc.––and moreover, there is nothing more important than protecting our ground water. We do not need gas to live, but we need clean water. This is why we want you to see this movie, why everyone should. Or if you're not as inherently charmed by Matt and John as Hannah and I are (guilty), Gasland by Josh Fox is an excellent documentary.The reason we wanted to see this movie, and the reason we are interested in the fracking debate, is because it affects us very directly. The small agricultural community portrayed in the film could easily be Bugtussle. The people of the town, poor and struggling to make ends meet as they destroy their family farms with corn and tobacco - those are our neighbors, and the neighbors of all small farms. We could and probably will see these types of companies come knocking on the doors of Bugtussle one day, promising millions of dollars to people who are desperate, if only they will sign on the dotted line. And this is what bothers us the most, because you can argue about the environmental side effects, that you don't believe in the tap water lighting on fire or the polluted ground water killing off livestock, but it's pretty hard to deny the fact that poor people in small towns are being taken advantage of and manipulated by giant corporations. People without a leg to stand on are signing away the only possession they have, their land. It is so sad and so upsetting and ultimately, so complex.Clearly, fracking isn't just an issue for farmers––it affects everyone. If you don't have time to go see the movie or watch the documentary, this Colbert Report clip is amazing as always, and The Sky is Pink is a short film about drilling in New York.What do you guys think? Like I said, this is complicated issue, especially here in Kentucky. We would love to hear other opinions on the matter.- Jesse.