Documentaries Can Give You Gas, by Doug Abramson – The Guest Spot
At least if you’re an industry with a possibly questionable public image, that depends on government cooperation to operate. While there seem to be several industries that fit the bill, in this case I’m talking about the natural gas industry. The documentary in this case is the Oscar nominated feature, Gasland. The industry response was an anti-Gasland campaign with a new tactic that belongs more in a piece of dystopian fiction, instead of 21st Century America.
Gasland deals with the rush to put new marginal and overworked natural gas fields into production, using a new and controversial technique known as hydraulic fracturing. But I’m not concerned here about the impact of hydraulic fracturing on the natural gas industry or the environment. I want to talk about how the natural gas industry reacted to the film.
When Gasland was first released, the natural gas industry sent out some press releases stating that the film was biased and disputing some of the technical details and conclusions drawn in it. All in all, it was fairly low key, probably because most people don’t watch documentaries and any potential damage to them was going to be minimal, if at all. Then Gasland was nominated for an Oscar and some of the natural gas people went a little nutty. The industry group, Energy in Depth, seemingly worried that the publicity for an Oscar win would drive more people to actually watch Gasland, went on the attack. They launched a campaign to get Gasland disqualified from consideration.
Time and energy was really expended by an industry group in an effort to convince an industry group, in another industry, to prevent an industry award from going to a film that the first group thought might make them look bad. Got all that? Energy in Depth’s attempt to minimise the amount of free publicity Gasland would receive from an Oscar win, resulted in more publicity being focused on the film and themselves.The funny part is that I don’t think that anybody but Energy in Depth seemed to think that Gasland had a real chance at winning. A documentary about the 2008 economic meltdown, Inside Job walked away with the golden statue. Energy in Depth came out of Oscar season looking like opponents of free speech, without any positive results to show for it. It might not be Orwellian and it is definitely legal, but it does seem to belong in a Terry Gilliam film. Stupid and slightly sinister at the same time. Genius!
Doug Abramson lives in Southern California and is now going to look for an Alka-Seltzer.
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March 10th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Doug, 21st Century AmericaI S a piece of dystopian fiction.
For example, I’ve long wanted to move to Madison Wisconsin. One of my favorite cities, next to Toronto. But now, I can’t see that happening. I’d be in jail within a week.
March 10th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Streisand Syndrome.
You’d think people would have gotten it by now.
Even GM kept the comments about Roger and Me factual, stressing the way Moore shuffled around a few events in the timeline.
March 11th, 2011 at 7:05 am
Mike,
I wrote this before the Wisconsin situation blew up; but I hear where you’re coming from, even though I disagree with you. People simply aren’t taking the beating anymore. While it didn’t do any good in the short run; the peaceful demonstrations in Madison converted more people to the unions’ side and every heavy handed tactic against them has created even more sentiment against the Republicans involved. Recalls are already well underway for the eight Republican senators that can be recalled and the recall for Walker is primed and ready to go as soon as it becomes constitutionally legal. The Republican tactics, in Wisconsin, also appear to be generating anti-corporate and Republican sentiment across the country. All without anti-protester violence from the Federal Government. I just don’t see that happening in Orwell. As for moving to Madison, I can see how that would not be appealing to you anymore. The People’s Republic of Santa Cruz is a very pretty town, that doesn’t care what one’s political views are; and there would be many people who are more liberal and vocal than you are.
March 11th, 2011 at 8:11 am
Actually, one of the things I like the most about Wisconsin is the diversity of political opinion. Whereas I support some liberal points of view, my politics run across the political spectrum and in many ways I’m an old-time, Goldwater circa 1980 conservative. Honest.