What Makes a Persuasive Sustainability Campaign?
A campaign should be driven by passion, but it shouldn't purely rely on opinions. Facts are imperative in informing prospective supporters about the issue the campaign intends to resolve. Information should explain the problems they wish to fix and the severity of it. This would act as the evidence for the argument, whether it is statistical data or testimonies; doing so provides logical appeal (Roen). The audience must feel that they are taking a stance based on facts and not unsubstantial opinions. It is important to evaluate how the environment is effected and why it is important to find a solution. The environment is what supports humanity, and therefore it is equally as important to discuss why it is in the interest of the human population to support the cause. The campaign should be proactive in that it suggests ways to resolve the issues it asserts. The audience does not want to hear a depressing story and feel hopeless. He or she wants to feel as if there is an opportunity to bring about change.
Analyzing the Rhetoric of Gasland
Josh Fox takes his audience for a ride in what seems to be a sci-fi thriller. However, as he journeys on, the audience uncovers that is it no nightmare but is instead reality. The purpose of Fox’s documentary, Gasland, is to reveal the horrors of hydraulic fracturing and how it is happening in our very own backyards. He exposes the loopholes that allow corporations to violate the Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Overall, Fox’s intent is to bring about awareness on an obscure process that dramatically effects the environment and human population.
Fox’s targeted audience is those who are foreign to the idea of fracking as well as those who are unknowingly affected by the process. Fox believes that reform must be made to enable monitoring the fracking process, because it pollutes our drinking water and harms the ecosystem. In his point of view, political reform must be made through what is called the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness to Chemical Act which proposes to annul the Hallibuton Loophole and require natural gas companies to reveal the chemicals used in the process of fracking (Gasland).
The ethical appeal of Josh Fox’s anti-fracking campaign comes from his personal venture into, “Gasland”. Upon receiving a letter from a natural gas company to lease his home for $100,000 to drill into backyard for natural gases, Josh Fox embarks on a journey to uncover what hydraulic fracturing is all about (Fox). He documents a firsthand account of various hydraulic fracturing plants and those negatively affected by it. Here is a clip of his documentary, where Fox witnesses the polluted water in the home of Mike Markham, where a fracturing plant is located in his backyard. His personal account and investigation of fracking gives his campaign argument credibility.
(Fox)
Traveling west to Colorado, Fox meets various victims of hydraulic fracturing and interviews them. They reveal how they have developed serious health issues from brain tumors and asthma as what they believe to be a result of hydraulic fracturing. Capturing these personal testimonies bring about an emotional appeal to the campaign. This allows the audience to connect and feel sympathetic towards those affected.
(Fox)
Though Fox launched his anti-fracturing campaign through the Gasland documentary it also extends into the campaign’s website. A whole section offers facts on hydraulic fracturing, discusses the known chemicals used in in the process, water pollution, how exactly the natural gases are extracted, and the loophole that prevents gas companies from having to disclose the chemicals involved in fracturing. Logical appeal is defined to be solid reasoning and appropriate evidence to support your argument (Roen). Fox captures this through his facts.
Every day natural gases are consumed, whether it is ethanol to help gasoline burn more efficiently or propane to ignite barbecue grills. But do we know where it comes from? Fox reveals that natural gases are extracted through an obscure process called hydraulic fracturing, which on average drills 8,000 feet into the earth’s surface. Millions of gallons of chemicals and water are then injected into the drilled wells, and resultantly the intense pressure from these process forces natural gases to flow out of the earth.
Hydraulic fracturing leads to water pollution and endangers our drinking water. Fox facts tells us that water aquifers are only 1,000 feet deep while fracturing rigs go as far as 8,000 feet deep. This leads to natural gases leaking into our drinking water (Gasland). In the first video clip of Gasland the consequence this process is evident, shown by the flammable water.
The Halliburton Loophole is a bill passed in 2005 by the Bush administration that exempts hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Consequently, natural gas companies do not have to disclose the chemicals used in the process of fracking (Gasland). Though all the chemicals used in the process are unknown, scientists have discovered a few of the volatile organic compounds used such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (Gasland).
Successful or Not Sucessful?
(Gasland)
Successful or Not Sucessful?
I think that Fox's campgin is a successful one; however, it is not without minor flaws. Fox executes the trifecta of appeals: pathos, logos, and ethos. He grips you in with the emotional stories of various victims of hydraulic fracturing. This depicts to the audience the effects fracking has on society, and how it is imperative to put a stop to the dangerous process that results in asthma, brain tumors, and polluted drinking water (Fox). Not only does he present how fracturing negatively effects the health of humanity, but it also depicts how corporate profit trumps the protection of society. Presenting Halliburton Loophole is effective in showing how the government is not protecting the people, but rather large corporations. Fox’s Gasland meets the importance of evaluating how it is in the interest of the human population to put a stop to hydraulic fracturing.
The environment is equally as important to evaluate in a sustainability campaign. Fox asserts this concern through discussing on this website how volatile organic compounds from hydraulic fracturing evaporate and causes ozone plumes that travel up to 250 miles. Air pollution is therefore born (Gasland). The campaign also investigates the Environmental Protection Agency and how their hands are tied in the matter of hydraulic fracturing. The campaign effectively evaluates the effects fracking has on the environment and shows why it would be in the environment's best interest to either stop fracking or enforce strict regulations that the EPA poses in order to protect mother nature. For it is mother nature that has been so fruitful to humanity. In the clip below, Fox discussed with Weston Wilson about corruption in the government in thwarting the EPA from doing their job and protecting the environment.
(Fox)
Fox's evaluation of how fracturing effects the human population and environment integrates information to formulate these claims. His whole factual section of his website as I previously discussed gives his campaign substance.
In the end Fox does not leave his audience feeling high and dry. Rather he allows them to feel empowered by posing opportunities to bring about change. The campaign’s website has a sections dedicated to “TAKE ACTION”. The campaign is not simply about informing but it is also proactive, making it successful in that respect.
The environment is equally as important to evaluate in a sustainability campaign. Fox asserts this concern through discussing on this website how volatile organic compounds from hydraulic fracturing evaporate and causes ozone plumes that travel up to 250 miles. Air pollution is therefore born (Gasland). The campaign also investigates the Environmental Protection Agency and how their hands are tied in the matter of hydraulic fracturing. The campaign effectively evaluates the effects fracking has on the environment and shows why it would be in the environment's best interest to either stop fracking or enforce strict regulations that the EPA poses in order to protect mother nature. For it is mother nature that has been so fruitful to humanity. In the clip below, Fox discussed with Weston Wilson about corruption in the government in thwarting the EPA from doing their job and protecting the environment.
(Fox)
Fox's evaluation of how fracturing effects the human population and environment integrates information to formulate these claims. His whole factual section of his website as I previously discussed gives his campaign substance.
In the end Fox does not leave his audience feeling high and dry. Rather he allows them to feel empowered by posing opportunities to bring about change. The campaign’s website has a sections dedicated to “TAKE ACTION”. The campaign is not simply about informing but it is also proactive, making it successful in that respect.
(Gasland)Fox's campaign is not a perfect argument. He is "stacking the deck" where he only presents evidence for his side of the case and fails to discuss the opposing position (Roen). His anti-fracking campaign may have been improved if he discussed the benefits of the extraction of natural gases, and THEN weighed the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing. In all, Fox successfully brings about awareness of an obscure process, and has presented a persuasive attack on hydraulic fracking through his sustainability campaign.
Works Cited
Gasland: A Film by Josh Fox. 31 Jan. 2012. <http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/>
Fox, Josh. Gasland. HBO documentary films, 2010, DVD.
Roen, Duane, Gregory R. Glau, and Barry M. Maid. The McGraw-Hill Guide Writing
For College, Writing For Life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 457-78. Print.
For College, Writing For Life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 457-78. Print.
