The Great Divide Between Drillers and Activists is on Display in Ohio

From the Canton Repository:

As folks with Energy In Depth tell it, they had been seeking an opportunity to promote efforts to develop the Utica shale lying under eastern Ohio.

When the organization learned that “Don’t Frack Ohio” planned a four-day seminar and rally in Columbus promoting efforts to ban drilling shale formations in Ohio, Energy In Depth planned its own event. It seemed like a good way to contrast the “for-profit activists” coming from out of state, said Daniel Alfaro, communications director for Energy In Depth Ohio.

‘TRUTHLAND’

So on June 15, Energy In Depth and other groups met at the Center of Science and Industry to watch a film called “Truthland.”

The 35-minute film  — which was shown Thursday at Kent State University Stark — was created by the drilling industry in response to “Gasland,” a 2010 film that attacked drilling.

After three days of training and sessions about natural gas drilling, “Don’t Frack Ohio” capped its seminars with a rally that featured a speech by Josh Fox, director of “Gasland,” a film that blames drilling for water pollution and health problems around the country.

The dueling events — conducted Father’s Day weekend — were a skirmish in the public-relations battle over the growing shale drilling business in Ohio.

Companies and industry groups try to rally support by talking about jobs and economic development. Opponents often are aligned with health or environmental groups and argue that drilling increases air pollution and threatens water supplies.

The topic can be polarizing. Common ground between the two sides doesn’t seem to exist.

Click here to read the rest of this article, which is an excellent balanced look at the fracking debate and how it is taking form right in our area.

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