WASHINGTON – Earlier today, the HBO film GasLand, produced by Manhattan-based stage director and anti-natural gas activist Josh Fox, was nominated by the Academy Awards for an Oscar in the documentary feature category. Subsequent to the announcement, Energy In Depth executive director Lee Fuller issued the following statement:

“While it’s unfortunate there isn’t an Oscar category for propaganda, this nomination is fitting, as the Oscars are aimed at praising pure entertainment among Hollywood’s elite. Without doubt, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Gasland for its work in the field of art, not science.

“As responsible, job-creating American oil and natural gas development, enabled by environmentally-proven hydraulic fracturing, continues to drive economic growth and strengthen our nation’s energy security, we have a responsibility to appeal to science and facts. This film, however, as a host of independent environmental regulators have confirmed, fails woefully short of these fundamental objectives.”

MORE INFO DEBUNKING GASLAND

EID Fact-Check: Debunking GasLand (Fact Sheet)

Frm. PADEP Sec. John Hanger: GasLand’s Josh Fox is a “Propagandist”

• “In an interview with The Inquirer on Wednesday, [DEP secretary John] Hanger was harshly critical of Fox, whom he called a ‘propagandist.’”
• “Hanger dismissed Gasland…as ‘fundamentally dishonest’ and ‘a deliberately false presentation for dramatic effect.’”

Fact-Check: Colorado State Regulatory Office Debunks Gasland

Denver Business Journal: “In Colorado, COGCC officials have said repeatedly that the state agency — after years of testing — has never found a link between fracking and groundwater contamination.” (11/1/10)

Financial Times: Claims in the film are “Absurd”

• “By failing to evaluate the claims of his interviewees more carefully, he has left himself open to the kind of takedown carried out by Energy In Depth.”
• “There are key problems with the film’s claims.”
• “Fox’s defence for any lack of rigour was that he wanted to start a debate, rather than have the last word. But that doesn’t absolve him of the responsibility to thoroughly check his claims. … This is absurd.”

Longtime NYT Editor, Columnist on GasLand: “One-sided, flawed … in the Michael Moore mode”

Towanda (PA) Daily Review: “If you want a relatively quick overview of the natural gas phenomenon, watch the 60 Minutes program. And by way of contrast, see “Gasland” and learn for yourself the difference between a responsible report and a hatchet job.” (Editorial, 1/19/10)

Wash. Examiner Columnist: “Gasland is more agit-prop than factual documentary”