Energy Documentaries – Educational Or Sensational?

The 24-hour news cycle has prompted a higher quantity of topics brought to viewer’s and reader’s attention.  However, with sound bites and the brevity of social media, rarely are topics reported with a balanced level of quality.  Film documentaries are evolving as a more sophisticated medium to explore issues in expanded formats with interviews, commentary and a wider perspective.  But are some of these documentaries more fiction than fact?

An Inconvenient Truth advocated common sense about climate issues.  The Academy-Award nominated Gasland sparked much controversy about exploration and production of natural gas.  Its sequel, Gasland II, is scheduled to air on HBO this summer.  This week, a film Truthland debuted on YouTube (not in theaters) with more splash than substance.

Of EDF’s core strategies of sound science, market-based solutions, non-partisan policy and unlikely partnerships – a most unlikely partnership was mischaracterized by the producers of Truthland.  My words in an interview in the documentary are accurate, but the context in which they were presented — implying that EDF agrees with the rhetoric presented in the film — is misleading.  When interviewing for this film over a year ago, I was not told that the film would be subsequently sold to Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and Energy In Depth (EID), and used a promotional tool for the natural gas industry.  In hindsight, I should have demanded more limitations on my interview – but the producers were very convincing when pitching the film as a presenting a “balanced perspective” on the natural gas debate.

Rather than promoting Truthland, I suggest a more impartial documentary choice where EDF’s Senior Energy Policy Advisor Scott Anderson is interviewed as demonstration of how EDF’s efforts can decrease the adverse effects of natural gas development.  The SWITCH Energy Project offers a more sound approach to reviewing the past, present and future of energy solutions for the U.S. and globally.  University of Texas’ Bureau of Economic Geology’s Director Dr. Scott Tinker explores the world’s leading energy sites, from coal to solar, oil to biofuels, with interviews of international leaders of government, industry and academia experts, plus a voice  in the environmental community.

Scott Anderson’s interview in the film describes the natural gas drilling method of hydraulic fracturing and the regulatory atmosphere of improving environmental aspects pertaining to water, land and air quality issues.