Here’s the Video of the Anti-Drilling/Fracking Filmmaker Getting Arrested on Capitol Hill
- Posted on February 2, 2012 at 1:14am by
Scott Baker
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Editor’s note: for our earlier report on this story, you can go here.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker was arrested at a House hearing Wednesday after trying to film the proceedings without the required media credentials.
Joshua Fox of, Milanville, Pa., was led out of the room in handcuffs and charged by Capitol Police with unlawful entry.
Fox directed the anti-drilling documentary “Gasland,” which was nominated last year for an Oscar. Fox also is an activist who has spoken out against hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which was the subject of the House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee hearing.
Fracking takes place when large volumes of water, sand and chemicals are injected into wells to break up underground rock formations, allowing natural gas to escape.
The oil and gas industry has criticized Fox and his film for what they say is a sensationalized attack on fracking.
Democrats forced two votes, one to allow Fox to film the hearing and a second to recess the hearing for a week so that Fox could obtain credentials. Both motions were defeated on a party line vote.
Committee Republicans issued a statement saying that committee rules state, “Personnel providing coverage by the television and radio media shall be currently accredited to the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Galleries.”
“The individual removed was not accredited by the House Radio and TV Gallery and had refused to turn off his camera upon request by Capitol Police,” the statement added.
The hearing was available for viewing on the committee’s Internet site, which is routine practice for most congressional committees.
A Democrat on the committee, Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, said Republicans were trying to hide criticism of the Environmental Protection Agency.
She said, “If Republicans want to undermine the use of science at EPA they can’t hide it from the American people because they have a right to know.”
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ConservativeCaveman
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 8:26amhcartexas
Posted on February 4, 2012 at 8:46pm
CONSERVATIVECAVEMAN…… its Frac-ing. And no the water is EVAPORATED in holding ponds, not trucked anywhere…. and YES the blends of fluid are valuable, and secret for a reason. You cannot violate companies intellectual property, just because you dont understand the need not to. You call yourself conservative.. youre a moron, need to educate yourself, and then type….
Who pissed in your Cheerios? Moron? Type? “youre” “dont” …..Things are done differently up here so lighten up. You don’t have all of the answers. We are on the same side as far as intellectual property except in my OPINION where public safety is concerned. I DARE you to go for a swim in that pond!!!!! The recipe is going to be made public by local DEP up here whether you like it or not. And please enlighten us all on the subject of why it needs to be a secret and how that secret relates to competition between suppliers.
Report Post »I am pro drilling and who cares if you want to call it Fracing or Fracking?
The water comes back up the well and goes into a temporary holding pond then trucked off. It doesn’t evaporate up here like it does in Texas… Comprende Muchacho?
Yes it is a safe way to extract gas/oil WHEN IT IS DONE PROPERLY!!!
It’s because of sloppy practices by drillers that gives this process a bad name. (Not securing the casing properly which CAN contaminate ground water)
NEXT!
wndstar3x3
Posted on February 4, 2012 at 11:49pmThis is a diabolical attempt by rich, greedy capitalist to resist becoming a socialist peasant society. Evil greedy people that don‘t want to live an equal lifestyle to Obama’s brother in Kenya. Reject oil, energy, science, civilization and claim their right to be higher minded elitest better than everbody else (poorer too) Embrace equality with Obama’s Kenyan brother, reject a better life, look at how it has corrupted Obama already ! Million dollar rich concerts and and flying to France to eat Supper ! Lets cheer Obama’s brother and pity poor deluded Obama living like Nero as America burns.
Report Post »(-:
gordonknapp
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 2:54pmGestapo! GESTAPO! Let the truth prevail. If fracking is ok, then no fear. People are being provided with bottled water by the oil companies. They are getting sick!
Report Post »hcartexas
Posted on February 4, 2012 at 8:42pmFirst … its Frac-ing…. not Fracking…… Second… there is NO danger, it is perfectly safe, hearing or not…. Third… Liberals need to shut their pie hole and thank God they live in America where they can afford energy, cars, gas, houses, etc…….
Report Post »absolutelynot
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:55pmWWJD YOU ASK , Jesus would drill becuse lower energy costs allow the POOR to have more affordable foods and comforts
Report Post »JRook
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:30amInteresting no report about the need for government and industry transparency or support for the truth about fracking and the real danger which is drinking water pollution. Tell me why they should not be required to clean the water before they pump it in the ground or rather keep cleaning and reusing the same water??
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 12:58pmThese proceedings are already filmed and available for public viewing. There is no transparency argument to be made.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 2:34pm@Rowgue Really than why was he arrested and removed. He surely wasn’t acting out or in contempt of anyone other than the politicians on both side that are bought and owned. And guess who has the money to buy them.
Report Post »ConservativeCaveman
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 3:38pmI think transparency is finally being demanded from the O & G industry as far as frack fluid contents.
Report Post »I don’t buy into the need to keep it a secret. Maybe there is one “recipe” that is more environmentally friendly than another and may be more effective to boot. This could be beneficial to all drillers. The competition doesn’t lie there in my opinion. It’s not a matter of one company or another having the ability to extract a greater yield over another company because of their fluid recipe. The competition takes place at the negotiating table of each potential land lease holder, where the lease goes to the highest bidder.
As far as the waste water, I think the standard protocol is to transport the frack water in tank wagons to the next well to be drilled for reuse or taken to an approved treatment plant. I don’ know how much goes into a storage well. It would seem to me, if you were trucking 1 million+ gallons of water 10-30 miles, you would want o reuse it as much as possible.
The latest technology developed by a Canadian Company is to frack with LP. It goes down the hole as a liquid and comes back up as a gas. No more frack water and it is more productive.
JRook
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 3:50pm@ConservativeCaveman Good to hear, in the long run it is never smart, necessary or moral to trash the environment.
Report Post »Magovac500
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 4:22pmYpou obviously don’t know anything abpout fracing. It does not endanger ground water nor aquifers. It’s been used for 70 years. Where are all of the polluted wells and aquafies. Fracing is done way below the water table. Only those that know nothing about it are against it. When you fuel prices doulbe in the next few years and we have blackouts . . .
Report Post »absolutelynot
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:47pmPeople like you will wake up obviously when it is too late for everyone in this nation… Every comfort known to our society is possible because of fossil fuels . Defense is also “fueled” by fossil fuels. we live in a world where every nation that has oil is either radical or run by dictators all of whom would love to see the U S A Collaspse under thier boots. when the Mulim Bros take over Saudi Arabia and we have no oil because Mother earth is so Precious that wecan buy but cannot drill, you will get to spend the rest of your life without showers, cars a/c etc
Report Post »hcartexas
Posted on February 4, 2012 at 8:46pmCONSERVATIVECAVEMAN…… its Frac-ing. And no the water is EVAPORATED in holding ponds, not trucked anywhere…. and YES the blends of fluid are valuable, and secret for a reason. You cannot violate companies intellectual property, just because you dont understand the need not to. You call yourself conservative.. youre a moron, need to educate yourself, and then type….
Report Post »gonetotheright
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:54amWe need to frack and drill every liberal tree-hugger that uses energy. Take away thier I-phone, I-pad, home, and automobile. Restrict them to bicycle only and show a tree to live in.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 2:48pmYour right we need to frack and drill and build nuclear. And the oil companies need to take action on the 200 plus permits they have rather than bash the President on why permits were delayed after the criminal action in the gulf. There is no reason or case why the oil and gas industries should not or cannot do this stuff without trashing the environment. Tell me why they should not be required to clean the water of the chemicals they put in it prior to pumping it in the ground. We should replace the EPA with 2 very simple requirements. You have to return water cleaner than it started. And you need maintain the current air quality. Technologies exist to do both. The cost argument would be offset with the higher supply.
Report Post »Magovac500
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 4:26pmPermits don’t mean they are ready to drill. For example, there might not be sufficient infrastructure in the area, or there may not be producable oil under the permit.
Report Post »absolutelynot
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:58pmWWJD YOUI ASK, JESUS would drill because lower energy costs mean lower costs on food , clothing and shelter which all benefit the poor
Report Post »ConservativeCaveman
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:43amThe NIMBY‘S and Enviro Nazi’s love this guy.
Report Post »Why not, after all he did uncover 4 people in Texas that had benzene in their system that he attached to
fracking. He just forgot to state that these people were smokers…….
The Marcellus Shale that runs from West Virginia thru the northeast corner of PA and beyond is one of the largest gas fields in the world. They are successfully fracking over in the Susquehanna Watershed and west, and have been drilling for decades. He has used his film rally the troops in their opposition to the process to the east, that falls under the jurisdiction of the Delaware River Basin Commission, (representation of the 4 bordering states of the Delaware River + the Fed = unelected bureaucratic overreach to the nth degree that has decided to go beyond it’s authority and start regulating land use in addition to water use) which has put drilling on hold while small farmers are going out of business and people are going bankrupt in this brutal economy while just to the west, towns are thriving.
Pennsylvania is threatening to pull out of the DRBC, which would be awesome.
When the NIMBY circus comes to town in protest, do they ride their bikes to get there?
No, planes trains and automobiles that run on…. yes fossil fuel.
We’ve got enough NG in this country to last 100 years+. More than enough time to find advanced fuel options to keep us going for the next millenn
Jeremy C
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:36amThe comments here blaming liberals for the removal of this gentleman cracks me up. I am a conservative and do not like defending the liberals at all but here I am going to defend them. It was the republican chair that had this gentleman removed and it was the liberal senator asking that he be permitted to stay. Yes, the gentleman removed is a one sided story teller but remember do unto others as you want done to you. I am not a fan of fracking and it upsets me to no end that the republicans are continuing to sell out for their own personal gain. Democrats do it to but you’d think in the current times of this country all, not just some, of the republicans would not whore themselves out.
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:57amAwww, c’mon! It’ll be ok! Your mind is made up about fracking. .. .High energy prices good- gas & oil bad. We don’t need that nasty stuff- uinless of course, you like clothing, food, housing, transportation, rigt down to your precious little Iphone. Without PETROLEUM the world will revert to something remienicent of the dark ages.
Report Post »brainpimp
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:08amHey Jeremy, why are you not a fan of fracking? If you knew any actual facts about it and what and how it works you wouldn’t have the slightest issue with it. That is just cover for a progressive.. I’m really really conservative but I disagree with everything conservatives do.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:50amAh, gee a fake conservative claiming he is a real conservative.
Point one: he did not have the proper permits to film so he asked to stop – he did not.
Point two: he did not have the proper permits as accredited to the Radio and Television Correspondents.
Point three: he did not comply with both above, thus removed.
Democrats put it too a vote, they lost.
If fracking is really bad, you would be dead Jeremy, I’d be dead, everyone on this forum would be dead according to the environmentalist. You must understand environmentalist are not the most reliable and truthful when it comes to their causes. They are our henny pennies. Having worked for five years with the natural gas industry, I can tell you I live in a state where gas wells have been drilled and fracking occurred. I am still here and my water is fine.
As far as the EPA, they have lost their objectivity and are laden with Liberal Progressives pushing their agenda. The EPA is no longer a unbiased entity; they must go.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 2:41pm@COFemale Wonderful rant. However there is no excuse for polluting millions of gallons of water and not cleaning it prior to disposing of it in the ground. Like many you want to argue around the facts and the obvious responsibility. I have no problem with fracking, drilling, nuclear, etc. But not taking the necessary steps to do it responsibly, such as returning the water to the condition it was before you use it, in pursuit of extra profit is not capitalism. It is poor citizenship. You cannot make the case that they should not clean the water they use of the 200 plus chemicals.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 2:43pm@COFemale He asked for and had received the referenced approvals numerous times in the past. Once the Republicans took over the chair his approvals were delayed forever. Geez they don’t even have the guts to decline them.
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:10amWhoopie! You gave him what he really wanted. Recorded footage of a “urnalist” being arrested( in an area marked formembers of congress onl) in a “public” on fracking. The theory- those evil republicans are hiding “something” – that want to hide criticsm of the EPA! I would like to have heard the testimony. Which celebrityIies) were called to give “expert” information to the clueless on capitol hill. Was there anybody there that had any experience-first hand- on the rigs. We probably will never know. But Fox got his footage!
Report Post »slwrig2
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:03amAnother way liberalism shows itself as a fractured ideology. Time to kick all these liberals out of the country so the US can begin to recover from the last 60 years plus of liberal idiot ideas and policy.
Report Post »ColoradoMaverick
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:51amA Michael Moore wannabe. What a friken idiot!
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:38amTo be more precise thats “fracin’”idiot!
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:26amcorrection: “What a fracking idiot!”
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 6:53amTransparency in this Administration?? Someone smoking crack?? What a load!! When the Obama administration TRULY puts transparency in place, then maybe you can have your camera in there dumb-azz!
Report Post »TimboTango
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 6:40amIts not hard to get press passes. I got them when I was in college, even to the white house. You can’t just walk in and expect to start filming. Either he didn’t do any research or he wanted to be cuffed for his film, in which case now who’s sensationalizing?
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 6:25amDid I read the statement from the D-rep Zoe correctly that the republicans are trying to hide criticism from the EPA (I am editing here) She said “If the republicans want to underline the use of the EPA they can’t hide it from the public” (SARCASM INTENDED)
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 6:30amwell you know I was just trying to fit my 5 seconds worth and sorry a few things got you know like you know well sorry if I hurt some ones feeling but you know well you know / what was that again. Listen you just can‘t use words like fracking that’s bad you know like language you know . HEY ZOE with a name like that I know what your folks were doing a few decades ago. (sorry I just had to vent)
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:00amwow man I am having like you know a really like you know a … a yeh..right a connection here oh **** I am talking like you know like to me, wow man that sounds like right on!!! young Neil talked to stevy about like ipod10 from like 2001 space oddity movie like wow anyone got a browny?
Report Post »Barry@Occidental1980
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 3:43amFrack off Fox!
Report Post »ColoradoMaverick
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:51amGo F yourself you *******!
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 2:18amAm I the only one who wonders why Mr. Environmentalist/Solyndra Obama is so interested in Natural Gas production when George Soros and Nancy Pelosi benefit so much from it? I Know the EPA went from keeping Factories from dumping poop in drinking water to Worrying about cow farts,but still…..Digging into Fault lines is ok,but dust from cows in a pasture is a disaster.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 6:08amI can understand the original intent of the EPA, to set a reasonable set of standards to balance between the industries and safety of enviornment in which people gain their water and such; the thing is now the EPA has become nothing more than a politcal platform for the radicals and their extremist ideology to break America.
Report Post »cuinsong
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 2:05amAnother M. Moore? Where do these people get their twisted mind sets? It a disease! Misguided stupidity brought on by a self aggrandized need to be famous! This song is for them called “The Devils song” http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_10789987
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 1:59amEnvironmetal Protection Agency at one time might have been a awesome thing to have, but now the loony bins are running the show and enough is enough! A bunch more idjits that think only they are right and everyone else is dumb and wrong! I wish they would just go someplace where somebody wants them!! I say to these nuts, what is the one thing this country is not prepared for… if we cannot get oil to this country, then we cannot buy gas.. without gas America comes to a halt. It is time that this country to start taking care of itself. The oil is here, it has always been here and this government has stopped us from being self suffcient. God gave us these things so that we could be self suffcient.. this government has brought us where we are today.. God help us!
Report Post »TheObamanation
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 1:55amWhat does Michael Moore think about this guy stealing his thunder ?
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 2:08am@THEOBAMANATION……I’m sure that Michael Moore will have will have many harsh words to say about him……….after just one more dessert.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 1:30amI guess the moral of this story is, if you are going to be “fracking” with someone, you better be sure you are invited to do so, or you get charged with “unlawful entry”…..:D
Report Post »Got2bRoni
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 1:58amLol. No fracking zone…..
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 6:54amA-Fracking-Men!
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:13amor you better put a protective cover on your fracking tool!
Report Post »