However, the documentary was at best a farse and at worse, suspiciously close to a propaganda video. If I was a Governement or energy company wanting to convince the British public that fracking was a magic new source of clean energy, I would have probably made exactly the same video, specifically:
- The use of a geologist as a narrator to make everything he said more credible, honest and less politically motivated.
- Scare the British audience by stating that Britain is dependant on energy from terrible rogue nations like the dreaded Iraq, with the implicit implication that fracking could secure our energy needs.
- Enforce the general message that fracking has no negative effects when mines are built properly.
- State that any other negative effects like earthquakes or gas polluted water are irrelevant because that might occur naturally anyway.
- Do not interview anybody from the Royal Society.
- Do not interview anybody from a British energy company.
- Do not interview any British politicians.
- Do not interview any British scientists.
- Undertake an unofficial interview with an american doctor to show that US policy is the problem and not the secret concoction of obviously very toxic chemicals - and later explain that European energy companies would have to disclose their cocktails of toxic chemicals... which is okay then.
And I too would have definitely avoided these issues:
- Can we trust energy companies to indeed build these wells safely?
- What are the consequences if after thousands of miles of wells are built under major British cities, it is discovered that infact, the wells had not been built safely? Or some other disastrous and previously unknown side-effect is discovered.
- Can mines be 'unbuilt'?
- What are these secret fracking chemicals that were used in the 2011 British trials?
It seemed to me that Professor Iain Stewart did not want to give his real opinion about fracking, even though he just spent an hour telling us how wonderful is it when it is done properly and not how those cowboy Americans are doing it...
I knew little about fracking before watching the documentary, but this "pre-emptive reassurance" by Professor Iain Stewart makes me worry why exactly Horizon think I need to be reassured...