Fracking Ads and Paid Surveys

I just finished taking one of those paid surveys - well - I didn't finish, it "timed out" after I had answered 46 of the 65 questions. This survey was put out by the "2nd largest producer of natural gas in the US." If you're wondering what the 2nd largest producer of natural gas in the US pays for a 65 question survey, the amount is one dollar.

So darn, I won't get my one dollar since the survey timed out and they got thought-out, well-considered answers to 46 two-part questions. That's okay, I'll be okay without the dollar and it was interesting and informative seeing the process they use to develop ads that will sway people to allow them to drill on their property.

The questions they asked were written to only partially  inform and to totally sway landowners and community stakeholders to allow drilling. They wanted to know which ads would inspire "me, the survey-taker" to allow them to drill in my community.

The survey also asked, the second part of each question, how I felt after reading each proposed ad. Did I feel threatened? Did I feel curious? Did I feel unconcerned? Did I feel indignant? Did I feel hopeful?

I varied between threatened, curious, and indignant, because, truly, nothing about hydro-fracture gas drilling leaves me feeling hopeful or unconcerned.

A lot of the ads talked about how the drilling process is 100% safe IF the casing is properly cemented and IF half a dozen other things go 100% perfectly. Well, how often is anything this life is 100% anything? And, how often in this life does everything go 100% perfectly?

A couple of the proposed ads mentioned the recycling of water, but even then, at some point the contaminated water is going to find its way to a disposal site, and then the list of "safety IFs" begins again. IF the injection well is properly cased... IF the well did not break through the water table and contaminate the local wells when originally dug it MIGHT be safe to dump toxins into it... I could go on and on, but that's the gist of it.

So to round up this slightly rambling post, don't just believe the propaganda that's handed to you. If someone is trying to hand you propaganda, there is almost always more to it. These companies are researching to find the ideal ads to sway residents into signing without thinking. It's how they make their money, and lots of it.

Whether you are for or against this type of drilling and the completion fluid disposal that follows, you owe it to yourself to be an informed citizen. If a company tells you something is 100% safe, check around. If it was 100% safe, this site and the many, many other sites like it would not exist.