At the end of January, city staff arranged to have the entire City Plan Commission bused to three city-owned sites where Trinity East Energy hopes to drill for natural gas on parkland. This was so commissioners could see for themselves just how drab, un-park-like and eminently frackable they all are.
Tagging along for the tour was a contingent of local environmental activists, who hired a local filmmaker to accompany them. The footage was then edited down to a brisk four minutes and posted online by Downwinders at Risk. They dubbed it the "Dallas Fracking Mystery Tour." You'll never guess who does the soundtrack.
Downwinders' Jim Schermbeck said the video was created to show that the Trinity East sites do not resemble a West Texas oil patch, as was suggested at a meeting last week by City Council member Sheffie Kadane, and to provide an easy-to-digest summary of the Dallas fracking debate so far.
It does both those things, and it's worth a watch, especially if you haven't seen the Trinity East sites in person. It's always good to put a place with a name.
