Restrepo is indeed a remarkable film--my thanks to its directors, and to your program for bringing them on.

One note: I knew Sebastian Junger only peripherally in college. Even at age 19 he had a sensitivity and wisdom way beyond his years-- clearly evident in this work!

See it if you haven't...

I didn't get to hear the entire interview with the director of "Gasland", but I hope you were diligent enough to examine the issue in more detail.

Hydraulic fracturing has been in use for several years in many states, but particularly in Texas where facturing methods have been developed. One of the formations in which those methods have been used is the Barnett Shale, which underlies all of the City of Ft. Worth, TX, and Tarrant County in which the city is located. It also underlies all of the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW), which has leased the property for drilling in the Barnett Shale.

If you understand process by which deep gas wells are drilled and by which formations are fractured, you know it is a process with risks, but the process of controlling risks and protecting the environment (including ground water) is well defined and technologically manageable.

The problems highlighted by the movie "Gasland" are horrible, and the operators who managed the drilling that led to the Dimock, PA, damages should be punished.

And while a ban on drilling may put an end to the risks of drilling, they won't satisfy our energy demands.

The truth is, almost all products we buy today -- with perhaps the exception of organically grown fresh vegetables -- are made in processes that involve toxic chemicals: cars, gasoline, roads, all plastics (in toys, electronics, appliances). To halt production of all products whose manufacture depends on dangerous chemicals would be to halt virtually our entire economy.

I am both a liberal Democrat and someone who works in the gas business. I, too, want to protect the environment, but I know that our lifestyle as we know it depends on use of things that aren't always environmentally friendly. The answer is to find ways to control them and enforce laws designed to control them.