Click the above image to View Photo Gallery

Perceptions of Hydrofracking in 2016 [S-16-46]

While New York State currently has a moratorium on hydrofracking, as a country we are feeling the effects of this practice to extract energy. We will watch a 2008 documentary, “Gasland,” to begin a discussion about the process. There will be short mini-lectures on the current state of the law in our area and, more generally, nationally. Attendees are urged to come with questions about the process and the problems. There are a lot of confusing and contradictory comments coming out about this issue, and this course is not designed to answer them, but to provide you with more information to help you puzzle out the issue yourself.

MOVIES VIEWED IN CLASS:

• "Gasland" - from 2010, directed by Josh Fox (Day 1)
• "FrackNation" - from 2013, directed by Phelim McAleer (Day 2)
• "Gasland Part II" - from 2013, also directed by Josh Fox (Day 3)

LINKS:

• http://education.nationalgeographic.org/media/how-hydraulic-fracturing-works/ - from National Geographic - explaining how hydraulic fracturing works.

• http://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1453&context=jesl - from the Jounal of Environmental and Sustainability Law (Vol.21 Issue 2 - Spring 2015) "Don't Throw the Baby Out with the Frack Water: A Reasoned Look at the benefits and Shortcomings of Hydraulic Fracturing" - Scott Martin.

Jessica Rogers is a full-time professor at SUNY Canton, teaching biology. Her research interests include deforestation in Central Africa, and the history of ecology and environmentalism. Jessica likes to stay current on environmental issues and to discuss what we need to know to be better-informed citizen scientists.