Quebec has changed direction on shale gas exploration and I think that’s a good thing. Yes, I’m against the idea until we know a lot more. Why the industry and former government didn’t agree on a full environmental impact study from the beginning is beyond me. While my invitations to Josh Fox the maker of the Academy Award nominated documentary Gasland, have been accepted 3 times now, my repeated requests to Lucien Bouchard, President of the Quebec Oil and Gas Association to explain the other side have been denied. Why?

Quebec Minister of Natural Resources Martine Ouellet has said the government will not green light shale gas exploration until a complete environmental assessment is finished. Government hints at shale-gas ban.  That's not a clear no.  As of March, Quebec had 31 wells, 18 of which had been fractured with hydraulics. Problems were reported and the program was put on hold. Proponents had projected 150-600 wells in Quebec by 2015. Over 200 million dollars has been invested.

I think the documentary Gasland has played a major role in motivating the movement against the drilling and the decision by the new government to stop things for now. Josh Fox who wrote and directed Gasland , nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary, helped bring the world’s attention to the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking. To put it another way, Josh is the guy who is largely responsible for the political minefield that the Liberals and now the PQ find themselves tip-toeing through.  Josh is working on a sequel for HBO, called Gasland 2, which will be out later this year. 

He discussed with me why he’s making a sequel, what its been like since the movie came out (who owns his name on Google?), and answering the New York Times fact check of Gasland.

You can listen to the interview on the player below the picture and you can watch his latest video THE SKY IS PINK below.