UNEN candidate presents documentary against fracking as midterm vote nears
While the vast majority of candidates avoid talking about environmental issues in advance of the midterm elections, UNEN senatorial candidate Fernando “Pino” Solanas releases today a documentary attempting to position himself in the role of protector of the environment with a new documentary La Guerra del Fracking (The Fracking War).
It is, without doubt, a strategic political move, to position himself in the role of protector of the environment by releasing a documentary that ultimately adds little to the debate over unconventional exploration a little more than a week before voters head to the polls.
In the end though, Solanas’ strategy could backfire realizing that what he is really doing is highlighting the contradictions that exist within the UNEN front.
Martín Lousteau, who is second on the UNEN list for the Lower House, has expressed his support for the hydro-fracturing technique, the process of drilling down into the earth and a high-pressure water mixture directing at resource-rich formations to release gas or oil inside. In the technique commonly known as fracking, water, sand and chemicals are injected into rock at high pressure allowing the gas or oil to flow to the head of the well.
Argentina has a strong potential for this type of unconventional development, and while already in practice it will be implemented at a larger scale now that state-controlled YPF and Chevron have sealed a deal to carry out a joint pilot exploration project in the Vaca Muerta formation in the southern Neuquén province.
A lost OPPORTUNITY
At a time when the world is looking at Argentina as a potential hotbed for unconventional exploration, the debate over whether hydraulic fracturing could benefit a country that spends billions every year to import energy resources is certainly necessary. But Solanas wastes any opportunity he had to use the documentary to launch a serious discussion about fracking — and even Argentina’s energy model.
Solanas, a traditionally old-school environmentalist, does not just oppose fracturing itself, but also accuses the government of colluding with the oil companies in detriment of native populations who live on resource-rich soil.
In fact, his documentary ends not with an environmental message but a political one with footage of the police repression that took place outside the Neuquén Legislature as provincial lawmakers were debating whether to approve the YPF-Chevron deal, which, in the end, was granted easy passage.
This recent episode gave Solanas the perfect excuse to analyze the social movement’s resistance to fracking and the impact this technique has on the environment, both of which had been analyzed in previous documentaries, including Neuquén Rio Impetuoso (Violent Neuquen River).
The filmmaker travelled to Entre Ríos, Neuquén and Río Negro along with sociologist Maristella Svampa and economist Felix Herrero to talk with communities already affected by fracking and with petroleum engineers.
Environmental criticism
As in some of his previous documentaries like Tierra Sublevada and Oro Negro, Solanas divides his film into chapters where he alternates chronicles and files footage with the emotional stories of workers, indigenous communities and engineers opposed to this specific technique.
Solanas ultimately agrees with environmental organizations that are critical of fracking, even though none of them are interviewed in the film, and with no hint that he tried to approach any representatives of oil and gas companies.
The documentary questions the agreement signed between YPF and Chevron to exploit Vaca Muerta, claiming it is unconstitutional, a view Solanas had already espoused and having presented an injunction against the deal.
The Senate candidate describes the company as “the devil” and uses footage to show the environmental damage carried out in Ecuador by Texaco, a company that Chevron bought out in 2001.
Yet Solanas does not just look at Ecuador, he also claims fracking has polluted water resources in oil-rich communities in Río Negro and Neuquén. According to environmentalists, fracking uses large amounts of water that must be transported to the fracking site, at significant environmental cost.
Environmentalists also claim potentially carcinogenic chemicals may escape and contaminate groundwater around fracking sites, a contention the oil industry vociferously denies.
Ultimately, Solanas says there is a better way: Argentina must develop renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. A noble request many have claimed is unrealistic in the short term due to high costs.
Yet he does agree with something that some oil executives say. Solanas assures that the country still has conventional gas and oil reservoirs that have not been exploited, which issimilar to a statement that the head of Bridas oil company Alejandro Bulgheroni uttered last week, noting that the costs of unconventional production remains too high.
Although there may be a few valuable testimonies from indigenous communities, Solanas’ documentary fails to add anything new to this nascent debate. In the end, the viewer is likely to leave the theatre with the feeling that Solanas’ goal is more electoral than environmental.
buenosairesherald.com