Why is Fracking Controversial?
Hydraulic Fracturing as a technical procedure to extract shale gas, has come under massive worldwide scrutiny. With documentary films such as "Gasland" (2010), "Fracking Hell" (2011) and "Fracking: Things Find a Way" (2011) the focus has been on the negative side effects of Hydraulic Fracturing. The films portray Hydraulic Fracturing as having particular strong impact on human/animal health, environment, climate and infrastructural systems - specifically they focus on how Hydraulic Fracturing contaminates ground water and brings risks to air quality.
Apart from how these films portray "fracking" it has also become a matter-of-concern within various public and private communities and spheres. Climatologists, geologists, environmentalists, policy-makers, private institutions and others have all become entangled in a web of uncertainty concerning Hydraulic Fracturing. What are the effects on human health? What are the environmental impacts? Can we become energy-independent from the extraction of shale gas? Can we gain nationwide economic growth from extracting shale gas? etc.
What is particularly interesting about the "fracking-controversy" is how this controversy still partly operates in the shade or margins of society. Somehow this controversy could be called "a controversy-in-the-making" or "an emerging controversy" from a Danish point of view. The practice of hydraulic fracturing has been criticized by the Public and other anti-frack organizations for various reasons; polluting the groundwater and air quality, destroying the ozone-layer and reducing private property values. This website aims to map out the dynamics, positions and debates around Hydraulic Fracturing by taking our vantage point from a geographical location: Denmark, and showing how this controversy is slowly but firmly establishing itself throughout a complex network of actors. We try to visualize the establishment of a network ranging from Denmark (and the debate within Denmark) to a broader European perspective. Take your vantage point in the Danish Debate by clicking on the button below.
Apart from how these films portray "fracking" it has also become a matter-of-concern within various public and private communities and spheres. Climatologists, geologists, environmentalists, policy-makers, private institutions and others have all become entangled in a web of uncertainty concerning Hydraulic Fracturing. What are the effects on human health? What are the environmental impacts? Can we become energy-independent from the extraction of shale gas? Can we gain nationwide economic growth from extracting shale gas? etc.
What is particularly interesting about the "fracking-controversy" is how this controversy still partly operates in the shade or margins of society. Somehow this controversy could be called "a controversy-in-the-making" or "an emerging controversy" from a Danish point of view. The practice of hydraulic fracturing has been criticized by the Public and other anti-frack organizations for various reasons; polluting the groundwater and air quality, destroying the ozone-layer and reducing private property values. This website aims to map out the dynamics, positions and debates around Hydraulic Fracturing by taking our vantage point from a geographical location: Denmark, and showing how this controversy is slowly but firmly establishing itself throughout a complex network of actors. We try to visualize the establishment of a network ranging from Denmark (and the debate within Denmark) to a broader European perspective. Take your vantage point in the Danish Debate by clicking on the button below.
Links:
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/ - Gasland website
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEB_Wwe-uBM - Fracking Hell: The Untold Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj_7kt51iJc - Fracking: Things Find a Way
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/ - Gasland website
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEB_Wwe-uBM - Fracking Hell: The Untold Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj_7kt51iJc - Fracking: Things Find a Way